Born Lucky
A Dedicated Father, A Grateful Son, and My Journey with Autism
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Get 3 months for £0.99/mo
Born Lucky
Buy Now for £12.99
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Narrated by:
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Leland Vittert
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James Conlan
About this listen
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
In a world quick to label, judge, and box in people, one father and son stood firm and refused to be defined by an autism diagnosis.
If you’re channel surfing and happen upon Leland Vittert during his nightly national cable show on NewsNation, he comes off as a poised journalist prying nuggets from guests. If you watched him for years as an anchor at Fox News Channel, you saw him on the battlefields of the Middle East, the anchor desk, and the White House North Lawn. No one, including friends and co-workers, has ever known his full life story and how miraculous it was to get to that point.
Leland was a socially awkward boy who didn’t speak for years, and when he finally did, teachers and leaders declared him “weird.” His unique behavior and inability to connect with his peers made him a frequent target for bullying and exclusion. In one particularly harsh moment, a school principal bluntly told his parents, “The people here think Leland is pretty weird. I guess I do, too.” Those words felt like being shot with an arrow, as his parents sat in stunned silence, grappling with their own fears and uncertainties for their son’s future.
From a young age, Leland showed signs of being Autistic, a term rarely used at the time, struggling with social cues, communication, and behavioral norms that came naturally to other kids. The diagnosis didn't deter his father, Mark. He knew the world wouldn't change for Leland, so he quit his job and began changing Leland for the world. He became a full-time parent-coach, training Leland and teaching him the skills he needed to navigate in society. Simple concepts like eye contact, understanding humor, and instilling motivations had to be taught painstakingly. From hundreds of pushups at age 7 to toughen him against bullies, to coaching him through complex social interactions, Mark’s relentless dedication changed the trajectory of Leland’s life.
Born Lucky offers an intimate look into their inspiring journey. Leland lays bare his experiences of the crushing bullying during middle and high school, the sting of rejection continuing into college, and his ultimate transformation into an esteemed journalist. But above all, this book is a love letter from a grateful son, who despite his diagnosis, trusted his father and defied all odds.
It offers hope to every parent and every child who is grappling with their own unique challenges, to be inspired to break labels, tear down the walls that society builds, and create a better future.
I really struggled to get through this book. The author comes across as self-assured and all-knowing in an exactly Fox News–style, “my truth is the only truth” type of way, which I found quite triggering. He also seems to display strong narcissistic characteristics—like, “look at me being so special despite my autism”—which made it even harder to engage.
A lot of what he says feels contradictory, often within a single passage. For example, he recounts his father’s childhood, describing how his grandfather caught him lying and threatened to send him to an orphanage, supposedly teaching him never to lie again. The author frames this as a life lesson, but it’s clear that it would also undermine trust and safety in relationships.
He tells a story of his father catching him safely when he jumped from a tree, which he says taught him he could always trust his dad. Immediately after, he recounts a story of his father being appalled by a friend giving the same lesson to his son—asking him to jump from a tree but not catching him, teaching him to never trust anyone. Both the author and his father seem completely oblivious to the fact that this story and the “orphanage” story contradict each other. His father is outraged by the friend’s story, yet idealizes his own father for supposedly teaching him not to lie—when in reality, the lesson from the orphanage story also teaches that he could be sent away if he misbehaves, which ultimately undermines trust in others.
There’s also a lot of contradiction in how he emphasises that his dad never wanted to give him special privileges and expected him to adjust to the world, claiming this built resilience. Yet the author seems completely oblivious to how much privilege he actually had: a dedicated father who was a millionaire and spent immense time teaching him. Most autistic children don’t have this kind of support, and in many cases, they genuinely need extra accommodations or privileges to thrive. Presenting his experience as universally applicable feels misleading and ignores the reality of others’ lives.
At one point, he even shows off how resilient he was as a nine-year-old pilot, but again, how many autistic children—or children in general—would ever have the chance to access such expensive, exclusive flying lessons? It’s another example of privilege presented as personal merit.
Throughout the book, he frames his life as a story of overcoming autism to reach the heights of Fox News. To me, this is yet another example of privilege—how much access and opportunity, combined with a highly dedicated parent, can propel someone to the higher echelons of society. It would have been more balanced if the author acknowledged that his achievements weren’t just his own struggle as a “poor autistic boy,” but also a product of the immense support and advantages he had.
Overall, I found the combination of overconfidence, lack of self-reflection, narcissistic overtones, contradictions, and unacknowledged privilege very challenging.
Overconfidence, All-Knowing Tone,Unacknowledged Privilege, and Narcissistic Undertones Made This Book Hard to Listen To
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