Grounded cover art

Grounded

A Personal Essay

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Grounded

By: Doreen Oliver
Narrated by: Doreen Oliver
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About this listen

Grounded is a moving personal essay about autism, race, and the sacrifices mothers make to give their children a chance at a good life, by writer and performance artist Doreen Oliver.

In Grounded, we meet Doreen as she’s struggling with the realization that she’s pregnant, weighing her own dreams and professional ambitions against the life she imagines is necessary to nurture and raise children well. Doreen’s mother was a stay-at-home mom who did everything in her power to ensure her daughters had the same opportunities as the white kids in their New Jersey suburb - opportunities she and her 12 siblings could have never afforded when they were young. Years later, the influence of her mom still looming large as her own children grow up, Doreen begins to see her mother’s choices in a different light with new challenges faced in parenting - particularly with Xavier, who is on the autism spectrum.

A remarkable new voice in nonfiction, Doreen Oliver tells this deeply personal story with compassion and unflinching honesty.

©2021 Doreen Oliver (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC. Parenting & Families Relationships Autism Parenting

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All stars
Most relevant
This essay is wonderfully told and performed. Doreen shares a personal story of motherhood that many of us can relate to in different ways.

Wonderful thought provoking story

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Loved this essay. It was fast paced and to the point, heartfelt and powerful. I felt the pain of a mum coming to terms with her relationship with her choices, her own mother, and the challenges and joys of raising an autistic child.

Wonderfully honest and fast paced read

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