Quinn’s “peculiar” elbow tapping would mark the beginning of his deterioration into nearly catatonic Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). “As that was subsiding, he started doing something else that I thought was rather peculiar.” “The behaviour started to subside and he started to sort of come out of that,” Gough told CTV News Channel from Ottawa, just south of her home in Wakefield, Que. Her happy-go-lucky son was consumed with grief over the death of his grandfatherand cried himself to sleep for months. This is a tale of tenderness and devotion, a portrait of the importance of community, and a story of surprising, unexpected, light.Laurie Gough had just lost her father in 2013 when she worried she could be losing her 10-year-old son, too. A gift to anyone who has sought to understand the mysterious nature of OCD and its isolating, bewildering consequences. Jim Davies, cognitive scientist and author of Riveted It's a heartfelt story of a family transformed by OCD, told with compassion and honesty. But Stolen Child demonstrates beautifully the devastation that the disease can bring, and the love that a family brings to fight it.

People use the term “OCD” casually, often with a snicker. Even for those with no ties, this is a beautifully written, touchingly honest tale. Gough’s straightforward and eloquent style quickly draws you into this memoir about her son’s battle with obsessive compulsive disorder. This moving story is highly recommended as a beacon of hope for those experiencing OCD and their loved ones.

Michael Shermer, author of Why People Believe Weird Things, The Believing Brain, and The Moral ArcĪ journey scarier than a trip to any foreign land It is about the power of reason … and love … to overcome adversity, a book that belongs among the classics of parenting. Stolen Child is beautifully written and emotionally evocative, but it is not just about OCD.

What do you do when your child is stricken down with a disorder whose cure is not at all certain? If you are a rational skeptic like Laurie Gough you research everything ever written on the disorder and apply the methods of science and reason to solve the problem, without resorting to superstition or the supernatural. You stay in.īrian Doyle, author of Angel Square and Up to Low Gough’s straight ahead style is seductive.

Stolen Child by Laurie Gough