Boys of Few Words

December 15, 2005
Drawing on clinical work conducted over a decade with boys between the ages of four and late adolescence, Cox probes the reasons for and consequences of boys' relative difficulty in communicating their feelings. The first section focuses on the "psychological realities of boyhood," how boys typically communicate and develop socially and emotionally. The physiology of boys' brains and their verbal and social learning skills make them more vulnerable to learning disorders, including ADHD and autism. Part 2 examines the social pressures that discourage self-expression among boys as they rely on anger and aggression to express themselves, and the contrasts with girls' relatively easier social development and communication skills. In the final section, Cox offers principles for developing child-centered families and for fostering boys' self-awareness and communication skills. He provides guidance for determining when uncommunicative boys need professional help. Throughout the book, portraits of boys of all ages and backgrounds provide human dimension to parents' search to get beyond the silence and behavior that sometimes hinder communication with boys.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)