Let Me Hear Your Voice

In her memoir, Let Me Hear Your Voice (1994), Catherine Maurice tells the story of her family after two of her children are diagnosed with autism. Through a combination of psychological and behavioral therapy, the children are both eventually able to live happy and productive lives.

Catherine’s daughter Anne Marie is one year old when the book begins. Catherine notes that even at a very young age she knows that something is off about her daughter. Anne Marie is extremely shy and does not seem interested in the same things as other children. When she is left with a sitter while her parents go on vacation, she does not seem to recognize them when they return home. Anne Marie is also extremely late in learning to speak.

All of this leads Catherine to doubt herself as a mother and to second-guess all her parenting choices. Anne Marie’s pediatrician refers Catherine to several specialists. After a few doctor visits that end in disappointment, Anne Marie is finally diagnosed with autism. Catherine blames herself for the autism, even though her husband Marc tries to comfort her.



The doctors tell Catherine that Anne Marie cannot be cured, though therapy may help her. Catherine struggles to find a good therapist who will improve Anne Marie’s quality of life. Meanwhile, Anne Marie’s symptoms get worse, and she completely withdraws from all human contact.

As Catherine begins to read about autism, she learns that doctors don’t really know what causes the condition or how to cure it. However, she does learn about an intense form of therapy that has produced results in autistic children. This cognitive behavioral therapy uses negative and positive reinforcement to get specific results from children. Catherine contacts a therapist named Brigit Taylor who begins to work with Anne Marie. Catherine is initially skeptical that rewards like candy will work on Anne Marie, but she allows the therapy to begin.

Catherine also hires speech pathologist Robin Taylor to help Anne Marie learn to communicate. The sessions are hard on both Catherine and Anne Marie as they involve forcing Anne Marie to do things like sit in a chair until she cooperates. Catherine also begins a holding therapy recommended to her by Dr. Martha Welch, which involves holding Anne Marie for an hour every day to force her to bond.



Though Catherine is skeptical of Dr. Taylor, Marc convinces her to continue cognitive behavioral therapy. Eventually, the whole family gets involved. Dr. Taylor trains them to use positive and negative reinforcement on Anne Marie. Though Catherine feels that they are nagging Anne Marie constantly about her behavior, she cannot deny that they see improvements in her alertness and engagement with the world. Anne Marie has begun to speak and can name most things that she sees. However, her language to express her emotions still lags behind. Anne Marie also becomes more receptive to change as the family uses CBT to teach her that new experiences can be exciting and rewarding.

While Catherine comes to trust Dr. Taylor, her relationship with Dr. Welch worsens. Dr. Welch recommends a form of holding therapy in which mothers shout at their children and express their anger and frustration openly, but Catherine believes that holding therapy has only been successful because she has made it a positive experience for Anne Marie. She writes a letter saying as much, which Dr. Welch distributes to other mothers practicing holding therapy.

The only area in which Anne Marie has not made significant progress is in getting rid of self-soothing behaviors and tics. Catherine and Marc elect to allow these to continue since they seem to be helping Anne Marie cope with the stress of CBT. Finally, Anne Maria is evaluated by a doctor and found to be in the normal range of child development. She begins pre-school and seems to be a success story for autistic children.



Meanwhile, Dr. Welch contacts Catherine about being in a documentary about holding therapy. Catherine agrees, but when she sees the finished documentary she is appalled that it contains information she knows is not true and her own interviews have been heavily edited to remove any references to CBT working for her child.

By this point, Anne Marie’s younger brother Michel is eighteen months old. Catherine notices that he is exhibiting many of the same warning signs as Anne-Marie, and soon, he is also diagnosed with autism. Catherine begins therapy for him, but Michel is slower to respond to CBT than Anne Marie was. However, soon Dr. Taylor begins to get results from him, and Catherine knows that her son will recover as well. Catherine finds that she is better able to understand Michel because he is her second autistic child.

Both children start elementary school and receive praise from their teachers. A follow-up visit with their pediatrician shows that they are in the normal range in all developmental categories. Catherine feels that they have been cured of their autism, though she admits that the process was hard and may not work in all cases since every child is different.