Author Bruce
Perry has a very difficult but very gratifying job. He’s a child psychiatrist
who deals with children who have been horribly abused and traumatized at an
early stage, helping them become whole and healed. Perry bases his therapy on
how the brain develops- at certain ages, different parts of the brain enlarge
as a child learns things; things as basic as trusting someone who touches you
or learning how to talk. If a child is deprived of soothing touch as a wee
baby, they flinch from touch as they grow up. Perry gently and slowly
introduces touch and then massage to teach them that it’s okay, and that part
of the brain grows, even though it’s well after the time when it should have.
The children in
his accounts are all real, albeit with their names changed. They have suffered
horrifically as babies and toddlers. Repeated sexual abuse, near total neglect,
seeing their mother murdered –and having her throat cut at the same time- are
some of the things that had happened to these children. The boy who was raised
as a dog was actually one of the luckier ones; he was fed and did have the dogs
for companionship, even as he was deprived of human interaction by a guardian
who had no idea how to care for a child but did raise dogs. His guardian didn’t
beat him or sexually abuse him. But despite the abuse these children went
through and the damage it did to their brain development, Perry is able to help
them. He’s very patient and never forces anything on the children. They’ve
already had too many things forced on them.
The authors
present the book in a rather informal manner. Perry explains what the child
went through and what it did to their brain, adding neuroscience to psychiatry.
Then he explains what he did with each one to get their brain to grow and
reduce their deficits. Each story deals with a different part of the brain. Perry’s
dedication and humanity shine through. The authors write rather like Oliver Sacks;
if you like his books you’ll like this one, too.
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