• Author
  • Book
  • Story behind the book
  • Media Links
  • Reviews
Mary Calhoun Brown

Mary Calhoun Brown

About

Mary Calhoun Brown has an extensive background in writing, marketing, and public relations. After graduating from Marshall University, she was hired by the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce as its youngest-ever public relations officer. After the birth of her three children, Mary worked as an editor and preschool teacher. When she and her husband, Campbell, learned that one of their sons had Asperger’s Syndrome, a mild form of autism, Mary spent two years home-schooling him during middle school, and it was at that time she developed the outline for There Are No Words. Today, the author serves on the board of the Autism Services Center in Huntington, West Virginia, with autism pioneer Dr. Ruth Sullivan

Murdo

Murdo

0.0
0 ratings

Description

<p>When Jessica Bryant pesters her wealthy parents to allow her to have a dog as a pet, the answer is a resounding &quot;No&quot;; but they soon come to regret their decision when thier home is broken into one evening whilst they are out and their daughter kidnapped and held for ransom. The kidnappers, in the form of four seedy and incompetent characters wearing Disneyland-type masks, take her hostage and keep her incarcerated in a place from which there appears to be no escape. However, they reckon without the resourcefulness of our heroine, and the courage of a wonderful stray dog who comes to her aid and whom she names 'Murdo'. And so begins an exciting and humurous accounting of the couples' adventures together as they consistently foil and outwit the abductors whilst on the run together.<br /> This is a lovely story of the friendship between a girl and a dog, bringing out themes of responsibility, camaraderie, redemption, salvation and self-sacrifice. It includes some wonderful dialogue sequences as Jessica teaches her new four-legged friend how to communicate with her, with additional delightful conversations between the animals when a rabbit and a sparrow join forces with them in an effort to outwit the kidnappers and restore Jessica safely back to her parents' home. </p>

Story Behind The Book

My son was diagnosed with autism (Asperger’s Disorder) in the fall of 2000 when he was in the first grade. Generally accepted and if not understood, tolerated, by his classmates, he thrived in elementary school. The day he stepped foot into middle school, he wore a “kick me” sign on his back and received the nickname “Retard.” You should understand that my son is a straight A student, participated in the Talented and Gifted Program, and his IQ measures one point below a genius. This was a troubling development for our family. We encouraged our son to finish his sixth grade year at the school. We simply will not allow our boys to quit something once they start. You might say that he had a full year of character development. That year was tough, and I promised my son that together, we would turn that rotten year into something positive. The last day of school, I gave my son two choices. He could either change schools or be home schooled for the following year. He chose home schooling, and I began researching curricula for middle school. We spent two lovely years together, learning, laughing, traveling and advancing academically. (He wasn’t one of those home schooled kids who finish up at noon.) In addition to his regular curriculum, he took a variety of coursework on the college level, and if he finished before 2:30, I had plenty of extra work he could do. He is self-motivated, and we got along fine. Ninth grade arrived, and my son went back to school. Uneventfully. Happily. He’s second in his class of 440. During my two years at home with my son, I started thinking about students with disabilities. Every kid knows it’s bad form to pick on someone in a wheelchair or another visible disability. Somehow, though, “invisible disabilities” are still fair game. One child in every 144 births has some form of autism. I’m not sure the statistics on other developmental disabilities, but I think I would be safe in saying that there are more students with developmental disabilities than physical disabilities in any school system today. The time to begin educating neurotypical peers is now.

Media Links

WSAZ news piece

🔗 http://www.wsaz.com/home/headlines/56209242.html

↗

Reviews

&quot;Mary brings her characters to life with an infinite attention to detail and infuses them with dept, humor and selflessness. <em>There Are No Words</em> propelled me into a time and place in which even children were faced with the realities of racism and war.&quot;  <br /><br />-- Mike Grady, CEO, Autism Services Center<br /><br /><br />&quot;Mary Calhoun Brown has given us an unusual path in getting to the story of autism. Young teenagers, their teachers and parents will be happy to hae this one in their library.&quot;<br /><br />-- Dr. Ruth C. Sullivan, former President, Autism Society of America