Walker is a low-functioning autistic, the opposite of the popular image of the autistic portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man. His father, Robert Hughes, tells a touching and inspiring story of discovering that their "perfect little boy had a problem." With disarming honesty and humor, the book tells how a family copes and keeps hope alive despite the staggering difficulties autism presents. By the time he was three, Walker's parents were concerned enough about his delayed development to consult a pediatric neurologist. Doctors diagnosed autism and issued a grim prognosis, "I hold out no hope for this child." But the specialists hadn't accounted for Walker's intelligence, affection, and needling sense of humor - or for the remarkable bonds that grew within his family.