What in The Ride Together: A Brother and Sister's Memoir of Autism in the Family engaged you intellectually and emotionally, thereby contributing...

There are so many images and ideas in the book that you might find affecting, emotionally and intellectually. For example, Paul Karasik does a very touching job of portraying the way in which his brother, David, sees the world, particularly when David, shown as a child in the graphic parts of the book, is being menaced by nonsense words that appear in front of his face and by all the noise coming at him from...

There are so many images and ideas in the book that you might find affecting, emotionally and intellectually. For example, Paul Karasik does a very touching job of portraying the way in which his brother, David, sees the world, particularly when David, shown as a child in the graphic parts of the book, is being menaced by nonsense words that appear in front of his face and by all the noise coming at him from the television. These images help the reader understand a bit of what it's like to have autism and to be unable to make sense of the world around one. Judy Karasik's description of David's response to his father's death is also affecting. After he comes home from the institution where he's living, David responds to the situation in an agitated way and keeps asking what he's going to be doing during all his upcoming vacations over the next several months. He becomes fixated on who's going to cut his hair, and he keeps mentioning people who long ago worked at the local barber shop (and who might not work there anymore). David keeps responding, "I forbid it!" (page 167), when Judy and their mother mention that there might be new people at the barber shop.

These portraits of David help the reader understand how David sees the world. Rather than focusing on his disability, the authors of the book (David's brother and sister) explain how David sees the world differently. For example, after his father dies, David yearns for order, and his means of getting order is to figure out who will cut his hair. While much of society views people with disabilities as frightening, foreign, or stupid, the authors of this book provide David with a sense of dignity, individuality, and humor that show he is human and relatable.

Impairment refers to a loss of function or an abnormality, while disability refers to a person's restriction or lack of capability to perform an activity. In David's case, he has an impairment in understanding the social, sensory, and psychological world around him, and his disability is that he can't work a normal job or lead an independent life. However, the authors of the book do not define David by his disability.