Rita Eagle, Help Him Make You Smile: The Development of Intersubjectivity in the Atypical Child

Rarely does a book come from a very experienced clinician that has such an eloquent blend of personal observation and clinical and scholarly depth. In “Help Him Make You Smile: The Development of Intersubjectivity in the Atypical Child”, Dr. Rita Eagle weaves entries from her personal diaries written as she cares for her infant Ben born with multiple birth defects and cognitive and developmental disabilities with commentaries from her clinical and scholarly experience. She makes use of the literature on how a sense of self emerges, the development of interest and curiosity about the social world, and the developing relationship between parent and infant. Dr. Eagle’s courage in so openly sharing her often daily journal entries about how she struggled to help and to reach her son Ben brings this volume so close to every parent’s experience with trying to find a place for themselves in the mind of their autistic child. Indeed, here is the especially important contribution of Dr. Eagle’s book. There are a number of descriptions from parents about the many challenges of raising an autistic child that involve finding appropriate services, finding the best ways to help their child learn, and understanding the differences in how their child experiences interactions with other children and adults. Dr. Eagle’s book is insightful about these many challenges—as well as the joys she came to feel with her son. …