LJ Reviewer Profile
Meet Corey Seeman, Kresge Business Administration Lib., Ross Sch. of Business, Univ. of Michigan
By Anna Katterjohn -- Library Journal, 3/25/2008 3:00:00 PM
Review count: 62
From his oeuvre:
Behind the Book on Judy Karasik & Paul Karasik's The Ride Together
Paul Collins's Not Even Wrong
Roy Richard Grinker's Unstrange Minds
As the director of the business school library at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Corey Seeman could probably tackle the latest blockbuster management book by an Iacocca or a Trump. On our rosters, however, he is the go-to reviewer of guides on autistic spectrum disorders; his qualifications are personal: he is the father of 12-year-old Christopher. Corey says, "Assignments in the workplace will come and go, but being the parent of a child with high-functioning autism is something I will always have. I stay very active and very interested in what’s being published in this area."
When asked if there is a definitive book on autism, this self-taught expert says, "I don’t know. The ones I keep very fond remembrances of are the narratives, which are certainly not the final word. And with books that claim to have answers, I end up realizing we’re no closer to the answer than we were before. What works for some children won’t work for others. I could argue that a steady diet of pizza, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, grilled cheese, and spaghetti will cure your child of autism."
Although Chris’s diagnosis ten years ago prompted the family to move from rural Cooperstown, NY, where Corey enjoyed working at the Baseball Hall of Fame, to Saline, MI, he now sees improved opportunities for both his sons. Jeremy, 14, is in a fiddle group, a service that wasn’t available to the Seemans in Cooperstown. Corey says, "We know we’re doing well with autism when there’s a seventh grader [Chris] who can bring home a straight-A report card and be in a play and have some kids who truly are friends. Start lining up the success stories, and you realize autism isn’t this death sentence; it isn’t this never ending trauma."
