Tag: memoir

SOVAS Winner: Best Biography Narration

amy@amydeuchler.comAudiobooks

An acting headshot picture of Amy Deuchler smiling in front of a brightly lit white background. In the foreground is the audiobook cover of WE WALK: Life with Severe Autism by Amy S.F. Lutz. Amy's photo and the audiobook cover are framed in black with a shiny golden image of a SOVAS award. Text: 9th Voice Arts Awards, Amy Deuchler, Winner, Audiobook Narration, BiographyI am completely flabbergasted (in a good way!) to learn that WE WALK: LIFE WITH SEVERE AUTISM won the 2022 SOVAS* award for best biography!

“In this collection of beautiful and raw essays, Amy S. F. Lutz writes openly about her experience—the positive and the negative—as a mother of a now twenty-one-year-old son with severe autism.” 

Thank you so much to Amy S. F. Lutz for trusting me to tell Jonah’s story, to Margy at University Press/Redwood Audiobooks for extending great patience, and everyone at the SOVAS organization for their hard work. I am honored. ❤️

This win also wouldn’t have happened without the amazing support of the audiobook community narrators and coaches. Specifically, the two coaches Sean Allen Pratt (a.k.a. The Ginger Yoda) and PJ Ochlan (Dr. Dialect). I tried to infuse this narration project with everything they taught me (so thank you Sean and PJ).

The print version** of WE WALK was reviewed by the New York Times and the audiobook is also an AudioFile Magazine Earphone Award Winner.  If you would like to learn more about Amy S. F. Lutz and her son Jonah, PBS recently featured them on a documentary “Living with Profound Autism” as part of their IN A DIFFERENT KEY series. If you would like to listen to the audiobook of WE WALK, you can find it on Apple Books, Amazon and Audible.

 

*Society of Voice Arts and Sciences

**Print version published by Cornell University Press; Audiobook published by University Press Audiobooks/Redwood Audiobooks.

 

New Release: WE WALK: LIFE WITH SEVERE AUTISM

amy@amydeuchler.comAudiobooks

Audiobook cover for WE WALK: LIFE WITH SEVERE AUTISM by Amy S. F. Lutz; the cover background has lines of brilliant colors in purple, pink, green and yellow, with the title in white lettersMy 70th audiobook released yesterday, and it’s the one I’m most proud of.

WE WALK: LIFE WITH SEVERE AUTISM by Amy S.F. Lutz is one of those books that makes you think from all sides and feel with every emotion, about humanity. All its quirks, all its flaws, all its struggles, and all its joys.

Judith Newman’s review in the New York Times affirms WE WALK “clears a path for us toward kindness and understanding” for people with autism.

Indeed it does.

I’m honored to have narrated this memoir/biography about Amy and her son Jonah.

From the Publisher:

In this collection of beautiful and raw essays, Amy S. F. Lutz writes openly about her experience – the positive and the negative – as a mother of a now 21-year-old son with severe autism. Lutz’s human emotion drives through each moment and challenges commonly held ideas that define autism either as a disease or as neurodiversity. We Walk is inspired by her own questions: What is the place of intellectually and developmentally disabled people in society? What responsibilities do we, as citizens and human beings, have to one another? Who should decide for those who cannot decide for themselves? What is the meaning of religion to someone with no abstract language? Exploring these questions, We Walk directly – and humanly – examines social issues such as inclusion, religion, therapeutics, and friendship through the lens of severe autism.

In a world where public perception of autism is largely shaped by the “quirky geniuses” featured on television shows like The Big Bang Theory and The Good Doctor, We Walk demands that we center our debates about this disorder on those who are most affected by its impacts.

 

WE WALK is available on Amazon, Audible, and (soon) on iTunes/Apple Books.