The Unlocking: Porscia Lam in-conversation with Suzanne Robinson
Fri, 09 May
|Better Read Than Dead
Join us with Porscia Lam to celebrate the release of The Unlocking! Porscia will be in-conversation with Suzanne Robinson.
Time & Location
09 May 2025, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Better Read Than Dead, 265 King St, Newtown NSW 2042, Australia
Guests
About The Event
The Unlocking: An Autism Story unfolds in pandemic-stricken Melbourne, charting one family’s desperate battle against the escalating behavior of their autistic toddler. Amid the lack of in-person services, Harry exhibits severely restricted eating, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, crippling separation anxiety, and a demand avoidance that impedes every function in his young life. Harry meets the description of Pathological Demand Avoidance, a sub-type of autism that is not yet recognised in Australia, where an individual exhibits an anxiety-based need for control by avoiding the ordinary demands of living.
During a break between lockdowns, and with much trepidation, the family embark upon a journey with applied behaviour analysis (ABA) therapy. ABA is an intensive therapy considered the gold standard in early intervention for autism, but with a controversial past. The outcome is life-changing. Beneath the veil of dysfunction and anxiety, they discover an outrageously creative, highly intelligent, and hilarious little boy.
The Unlocking is an atypical…