Raising Blaze: Bringing Up an Extraordinary Son in an Ordinary World Hardcover - 2002

From the publisher

From Debra Ginsberg, the acclaimed author of the surprise hit "Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress," comes a new book that unflinchingly documents her fears and frustrations as well as soaring moments of joy and satisfaction in raising her son, Blaze.

Debra Ginsberg knew that her son was unique from the moment he was born. What she didn't know was that Blaze's differences would be regarded by others not as gifts but as impediments to his social and academic success. Blaze never crawled; at one he simply stood up and walked. By the time he was four, he knew the complete works of Miles Davis. At five, he assigned colors to days of the week. When he turned ten, he asked to reenact his own birth, so that this time he could have "enough breath to cry." But from his first day of kindergarten, Blaze was considered a "problem" in the classroom. All his life he's defied diagnosis by a host of experts who have sought to label him.

Writing with blistering honesty and irrepressible humor, Debra Ginsberg chronicles the extraordinary journey she has taken with her son through meetings with administrators, doctors, psychologists, and a host of other professionals, all with their own ideas about what makes Blaze "different" and all convinced that their answers were the right ones.

A powerful advocate for her son and a compelling voice for those raising special kids, Ginsberg interweaves her moving personal story and her hard-fought battles with schools and medical professionals to create a book that speaks to all parents. "Raising Blaze" is also a message in a bottle for all the square pegs who refuse, in one way or another, to be shaped, shoved, or squeezed into unyielding roundholes.