Geological Story of Death Valley

Clements, Thomas

Chalfant Pr

<p>Close contact with an autistic person fills some with a fear derived from not understanding. How will I cope with unfamiliar, perhaps unpredictable behaviour? The world Thomas Clements describes can bridge that chasm for the curious outsider looking in. Those who are themselves on the autistic spectrum will find here the reassurance of company in what they face, as will their families and friends. People familiar with his first book, "The Autistic Buddha", already know of Thomas's internal struggles to make sense of himself and the world he encounters - and they have seen his intellectual prowess in action. This further exploration opens a broader window on his disturbing pilgrimage through life, introducing his brother Jack, himself significantly disabled by his own autism. So we have here a tale of two brothers, one intellectually highly capable, the other able to achieve, in conventional terms, very little without help. The book compares and contrasts what they each make of life. How do their ordinary days differ when it comes to what are typically simple issues like food, clothing, family, friends, physical contact with strangers, entertainment, sport, talking with others, routines and order, the noise of life, animals...? And critically, which of these brothers has the happier life? We are not spared the pain they encounter, whether the internal anguish with which they each must battle, or the potential for external attacks from bullies. The writer's overwhelming tone is one of affection for Jack - and for the parents who have had a torrid journey with their two boys, sometimes trying beyond endurance, but laced together also with sparkles of joy and laughter. A lucid, accessible book, written with palpable love, poignantly illustrated with Jack's artwork.</p>

The Autistic Brothers: Two Unconventional Paths to Adulthood

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

Independently published

Thomas Clements has always been an outsider, preferring to fantasise about the exotic East and lose himself amongst the chaotic sights, sounds and smells of London’s Chinatown rather than face the reality of his existence in Western suburbia. Despite doing badly at school, his natural talent for memorising details and his extraordinary ability to master foreign languages lands him a place at university. But this is not a habitat in which he thrives. Following a stint in a psychiatric ward while on his year abroad in Germany, he secretly drops out from his studies, and from life.When his parents receive an invitation to Clement’s graduation ceremony, where they will discover their son has lied all along and has not attained a degree after all, he does what he always does. He hatches a plan to run away, rather than face reality. This time to a job teaching English in rural China, where he can hide from everyone and everything. But wherever Clements runs, things go from bad to worse: the teaching isn’t what he thought it would be, modern China is not as romantic as he had imagined, people he counts on as friends ultimately move on, and his first encounter with a girl leaves him questioning his identity as a man.It doesn’t matter where Clements tries to hide in the world, his anxiety and depression always get the better of him. Now he finally realises he has nowhere in the world to run, will Clements find a way to gain inner peace before he self-destructs?The Autistic Buddha is a stunning tale of the author’s extraordinary outer and inner journeys to make sense of the world – his world – which is at the same time bravely honest, despairing and inspiring.

The Autistic Buddha: My Unconventional Path to Enlightenment

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