Book Description:

NORMAL FOR ME tells the story about the author hitting rock bottom when she received the diagnosis that her second oldest son was on the autism spectrum. One evening she fell to her knees asking God, “Why can’t we be a ‘normal’ family?” God whispered, “This IS normal for you.” This epiphany began her journey from anguish and grief to acceptance, peace, hope, and joy. This book is ideal for not only families struggling with autism but anyone who has had to face a life detour or help someone along the way.

Review by Melissa Dalton Martinez, Producer and Host of THE BOOK BREAK

Tamara K. Anderson shares an inspirational message in her book “Normal for Me.” Tamara found herself the mother of an autistic child, something that was definitely not considered “normal.”

As a parent I could relate to feeling that my family was not “normal” from time to time. While none of my children have autism, each child has or has gone through their own unique challenges. I too have gone through the stages of grief that Tamara talks about in her book and she describes them very well. I was able to relate to many of the experiences she shared in her book.

Tamara shares how her faith in God was the foundation of finding peace and accepting her “Normal.” I think that even if someone doesn’t share her faith they will like this book and be able to relate to it. We all go through difficult things, and I believe parents especially can be hard on themselves and it’s important to know we’re not alone in our struggles. We can find strength in our God and strength in knowing there are others out there that know what we’re going through and that we all have a unique set of circumstances. We can find our own kind of normal and love our families and ourselves.

Review by Kelly Condie, Maser’s in Early Childhood with an emphasis in Administration, Management, & Leadership.

I believe each person has an idealization in their head of what “normal” should look like, especially when it comes to family life. As I read through Normal for Me I was able to relate to the author’s feelings as one can come to terms with recognizing that your own “normal” may not be the same as others, and overcoming the concept that it will never be just like the idealization in your mind.

I was most connected to her feeling that she could “fix” or “heal” her son, her family life. There are all kinds of methods out there that promise to help with different struggles. While there are supports and there are things to help make life better, there are times that we just have to come to terms with the reality that this is our “normal”, this is our life, and there isn’t anything that needs to be fixed, healed, or cured. We need to accept what our normal will be, that a diagnosis doesn’t have to define us but guide and teach us.

And lastly, we are not alone in our journey, God is by our side, even when things don’t go the way we want them to go, even when it feels like we’re reliving the same day over and over without progression, even when we believe we simply can’t do anymore. We may never have the family life we envisioned for ourselves, but we can still find joy in our own life of normality.