Book Club Discussion Questions
Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
Daniel Isn't Talking is a novel about a woman who discovers
her young son is autistic. It is taken in part from my own life
as I went through a similar experience five years ago when my
son was diagnosed with autism. About my son: I can tell you I
was certain there was something wrong with him for some time
before the actual diagnosis. I used to ask the doctors about
these obscure symptoms. Why does he walk on his toes, I'd ask.
Why does he grind his teeth like that? Why doesn't he sleep at
night? Or eat for that matter? I mean, surely he should eat? And
why doesn't he talk?
And then one day the answer came and I wished I'd never asked
the questions. "Because he is autistic," I was told.
Autism in a child does not affect only that child. It affects a
whole family. Suddenly, everything in my life was different. My
normally wonderful husband became remote, unhelpful. The only
way I could be sure he took in what I had to say was if I texted
him on his mobile. His relatives went around saying things like,
"Well, we have no history of autism in our family." My own
relatives, who are not warm and fuzzy people, weren't much help
either. My aunt thought it was my own fault for having a baby so
late in life (I was thirty-three). My sister would say things
like, "Wow, he's autistic. So I guess you're going to have to do
something with him."
Do something with him? I hate to think what she had in mind.
But, yes, I had to do something. And just like the character
Melanie in
Daniel Isn't Talking I found myself scrambling
to figure out what.
But of course, the novel is not a memoir, and what Melanie does
in
Daniel Isn't Talking ends up being far more
entertaining than anything in my actual life. Take, for example,
the rather delicious Irish guy with whom she falls in love. I
can tell you no such man has ever entered my house. I guess
that's just as well because my husband is in my house.
Eventually he de-thawed and returned to being the nice guy he
usually is.
In fact, very few of the events of the novel ever happened in my
life, but the great thing about fiction is that you can take
subject matter as difficult as that in
Daniel Isn't Talking
and fill it with humor, with surprises, with events that escort
the reader gently through the minefield which has become these
characters' lives. I positively loved writing the novel and I
feel a particular affinity to it. I admire the main character,
Melanie. She was so much braver than I was at the time of my
son's diagnosis. I fell in love with the therapist who shows her
how to teach her son. And of course the Daniel in the novel is
so much like my own son, Nicholas, and brought back memories of
the day Nicky finally said his first word – at the age of three
years and two months – and how hard he fought to learn the simple
things that other children take for granted.
So, this is an important book for me. The latest statistics
reveal that one in every 165 families has a child on the
autistic spectrum, so I know that the book is going to touch the
hearts of many people. I hope it will also touch parents who
find that it is sometimes difficult to connect with their
children.
For more information on Autism or to make a donation to Autism
Research please contact Autism Speaks at
www.autismspeaks.org.
Discussion Questions
-
There
are occasional flashbacks throughout the novel that give a
glimpse of what Melanie was like before she had children. How
would you describe her character before she became a mother? How
has she changed?
- Melanie and Stephen's house empties out of possessions as
Melanie sells their things to pay for Daniel's various therapies
and other needs. What does Melanie mean when she says, "I'm in a
different market than the rest of the world"?
- How are the subjects of race and class treated in the
novel?
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- How does the author develop themes of identity and belonging throughout the narrative?
- What role does the setting play in shaping the characters' decisions and relationships?
- Discuss how the ending reframes the events of the story. Were you surprised?
Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Anchor Books.
Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.
