A Thorn in My Pocket: Temple Grandin’s Mother Tells the Family Story

A Thorn in My Pocket is Eustacia Cutler’s story of raising her daughter, Temple Grandin, in the conservative Leave-it-to-Beaver world of the fifties, a time when children with autism were routinely diagnosed as infant schizophrenics and banished to institutions. 
She tells of her fight to keep Temple in the mainstream of family, community, and school life, how Temple responded and went on to succeed, as Ms. Cutler puts it, beyond my wildest dreams. Ms. Cutler also explores the nature of the autism disorder as doctors understand it today, and how its predominant characteristics reflect our own traits in an exaggerated form. 
Insightful chapters   And Baby Makes Three  As the Twig Is Bent  Childhood  The Separate Worlds Begin  Things Fall Apart
And Start All Over Again  The End of Childhood  Then What Happened?  Looking for the Source  The Legacy of Genes  What It Means to Be Human