Nannette Silvernail

Dancing in Cornmeal: Life with Autism Nannette Silvernail

The floor around her was covered with cornmeal "Lauren Therese!" I screamed. I had left a container of cornmeal at about the eye level of a little girl who was being encouraged to run her hands through a bucket of rice just four hours earlier [in therapy]. "Well, I see you found the cornmeal," I changed my tone and poured the yellow sandy stuff over my fingers so that it rained down in front of her face. Lauren squinted at the yellow coming down, lifted her hand so she could feel it through her fingers too, and laughed. I pulled her to her feet and we danced the messiest but most memorable dance I've ever had with my daughter, or anyone, to date. So goes the event that gave life to a book title. Based on years of hands-on experience, Dancing in Cornmeal is a parent's story, an educational manual and an inspirational collection of essays that will help you see through the eyes of a child with autism and into the hearts of the people who love her.