Forever Boy: A Mother's Memoir of Autism and Finding Joy

by Kate Swenson

Overview

From the creator of Finding Cooper's Voice comes a powerful memoir about motherhood and unconditional love

Now updated with an afterword from the author

Kate Swenson's oldest son, Cooper, was diagnosed with nonverbal autism when he was three years old. Kate had always dreamed of having the perfect family and wasn't prepared for raising a child with a disability. Over the years, she felt the frustration and exhaustion from having to fight for your child in a world stacked against them. But through hard work, resilience and personal growth, she learned that Cooper wasn't the one who needed to change. She was.

It was this transformation that led Kate to acceptance—and ultimately joy. Because of Cooper, Kate became the person and the mother she was truly meant to be. Now she offers support and connection to others on this path. In Forever Boy, she shares her inspiring journey with honesty and compassion, illuminating the strength and perseverance of mothers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780778387145
Publisher:	Park Row Books
Publication date:	03/19/2024
Edition description:	First Time Trade
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	156,134
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Kate Swenson is the creator of the blog and Facebook page Finding Cooper’s Voice. She speaks regularly about autism, parenting, and motherhood, and is a contributor to TODAY Parents, The TODAY Show, and the Love What Matters blog. Her mission is to create a safe space for families of children and teens with special needs to come together and laugh, cry, and support each other. She lives in Minnesota with her family.

Editorial Reviews

"Until the late twentieth century, autism was hidden in plain sight. Now it’s a public health priority and focus of extensive research. However, it remains a black box. While we wait for answers, extraordinary people like Kate Swenson, through their dedicated and resourceful efforts have taken it upon themselves to create a nurturing environment in which children like Cooper can grow and thrive. Forever Boy will be an inspiration to all who face the challenge of caring for special needs children." —Dr. Jeffrey A. Lieberman, Lawrence C. Kolb Professor and Chairman of Psychiatry, Columbia University

“Forever Boy is a candid journey through the beauty and battles of having a child with autism. Kate blends wit and wisdom in an unapologetic account of marriage, motherhood and unconditional love. She captures the struggles, expectations and reality all parents face while advocating for their children. It's a story of unexpected loss; enduring hope and most importantly, newfound understanding. It should be mandatory reading for teachers or for anyone who has children or is thinking of having children.” –Colin Balfe, founder of Love What Matters


"Kate Swenson has pulled the curtain back to show first-hand the challenges of life with a child with severe autism. For those who are in the dark about the disability, or know little about it, her story will be an eye opener." —Valerie Gilpeer, co-author of I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust

“This wise, inspiring book will appeal to not only parents of children with autism, but anyone interested in stories about the selflessness and endurance of maternal love. A candid and hopeful addition to the personal literature on pediatric autism.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

06/01/2022

Debut writer Swenson describes her parenting journey beginning with her childhood obsession with being a mother to detailing the life of her son, Cooper, who is diagnosed with severe nonverbal autism. From his birth he does not sleep and is never content. His care is exhausting, and the search for answers is difficult. Swenson talks listeners through the process of negotiating his social, medical, and educational needs, with varying degrees of success. In her first-person account, of one mother, in one situation, with one individual child, she found that her love for her family, a determination never to stop seeking answers, and care in how she defined her goals and success criteria were key in her and Cooper's journey. Swenson tells her own story in this audio production. Listeners hear her voice as if they are trusted friends in whom she can confide. VERDICT The uniqueness of the Swenson's individual story will be its measure of appeal for listeners. Readers of her blog (Finding Cooper's Voice) will likely line up.—Laura Trombley

Library Journal - Audio

11/01/2021

In Where the Children Take Us, CNN anchor Asher celebrates the strength of her first-generation British Nigerian mother, who overcame grief when her husband was killed in a South London car accident to raise four accomplished children, including Oscar-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (125,000-copy first printing). Multi-award-winning novelist Morton writes about his fierce and irrepressible educator mother, Tasha, from whom he spent a lifetime carefully cushioning himself and who still proves a handful when he must intervene as caregiver as she grows older (75,000-copy first printing). Author of the laugh-out-loud best seller I Miss You When I Blink, self-professed worrywart Philpott practically built a Bomb Shelter to protect her children, then realized during the crisis that unfolded after she found her teenage son unconscious on the floor that she couldn't control everything (100,000-copy first printing). Forever Boy, Swenson's account of raising a son with severe autism, should attract a big audience—and not just because of the subject's importance; Swenson's blog/Facebook page Finding Cooper's Voice has 655,000 followers, and her TODAY-featured video, "The Last Time It's Going To Be Okay," has been viewed over 30 million times (75,000-copy first printing). Expanding on a 2018 USA TODAY story that has had more than 1.5 million page views, Trujillo examines the aftermath of her mother's suicide in Stepping Back from the Ledge, explaining that she had to face deep sorrows in her mother's life and her own.

Library Journal

2022-01-05
An advocate for autistic children reflects on life with her son, Cooper, who was born with severe autism.

When a premarital counselor asked Swenson and her boyfriend at the time, Jamie, how they would cope with the challenges of caring for a child on the autism spectrum, they balked. “What a silly question,” she writes. “That would not happen to us. He went on to briefly talk about the stress of hav­ing children, and how a child with special needs intensifies it. I remember not being jarred by the question, not in the slightest. I mean, we were healthy and invincible.” After suffering a miscarriage, the couple’s second pregnancy resulted in Cooper, who could not be comforted by touch. Cooper mystified the author and made her an outsider to the “exclusive club” of mothers with so-called “normal” children. As she struggled to make sense of her situation and the attendant personal and financial challenges, Jamie distanced himself. Though they divorced, they became more committed to giving their children—especially Cooper, who had been diagnosed with severe, language-impeding autism—“their best life.” Finally able to work as a team, she and Jamie fought doctors and schools to give Cooper what he needed, and they remarried each other. Despite their loving care, Cooper was subject to fits of rage so violent that they feared for the safety of their other children. The author, creator of the blog Finding Cooper’s Voice, finally decided to medicate Cooper to ameliorate the anxiety that stalked him, despite her fear that drugs would turn him into a “zombie.” The result was miraculous. Much calmer in general, Cooper began to build a small vocabulary that helped him emerge from the lonely world in which he had been trapped. This wise, inspiring book will appeal to not only parents of children with autism, but anyone interested in stories about the selflessness and endurance of maternal love.

A candid and hopeful addition to the personal literature on pediatric autism.

Kirkus Reviews