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BOOK SIFTS THROUGH 'MAZE' OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

Clifton Journal - 7/28/2017

A new book chronicles a New Jersey family's painstaking, two-decade journey through schools and institutions, in an effort to help a son with mental illness.

Susan Christopher, of Nutley, and Corraine Conaway, of Clifton, appeared on July 24 at a Meet the Authors event at the Clifton Public Library.

Their new book, "Maze Crawler," tells the story of Conaway's struggles to get help for her son, who suffers neurological disorders, developmental disabilities, as well as attention deficit hyperactive disorder and a learning disability. Mark (name changed for the book) has struggled with mental illness his entire life.

"This story, although unique to one family, is universal," Christopher said. "We want to reach as many people as we can, so they know they are not alone."

Mark was described as "very active and fearless" when Conaway and her previous husband adopted him at 3 in the early 1970s. He had a hearing problem, and his speech and gait were "off," she said.

"I thought at the time, 'Love conquers all,'" Conaway said, but it was only the beginning of the challenges. "We faced one situation after another, to the point I don't know how we slept, let alone worked," she said.

"You don't turnaround mental illness," Christopher added.

As a toddler, Mark had nightmares and sleeping problems. Issues also arose with children in their Nutley neighborhood. There were his behavioral problems, as well as bullying against him, at Holy Family Church'sGood Shepherd Academy and Washington Elementary School, his mother said.

He was eventually placed in an out-of-district, special education school.

When Conaway and her current husband Doug moved to Clifton, the new district didn't have a contract with the same special education school, she said. He was placed in a class of emotionally disturbed students, and for a short time, in the junior high school's general population, which he couldn't handle, according to Conaway.

He then went to the Palisades Learning Center in Paramus, where his mother said he became streetwise, and later he was an inpatient at St. Clare's Hospital, which inadvertently led to other bad influences, his mother said.

He eventually landed in the criminal justice system, she said.

Mark continued to go in and out of facilities, where he either ran away or aged out of their services, hurting his chances to get help, Conaway said.

As he became an adult, sustainability was further impounded by his inability to learn, read and write, she said.

The book ends in 1995 when Mark was 24, at the birth of his son. Today, despite his illness, he is "extremely forgiving, open-hearted and generous," Christopher said.

The Conaway family's struggles led Corraine to advocacy for the mentally ill and their families. She started the support group Children in Crisis in the mid-1980s.

She also was a longtime member of the Passaic County Mental Health Board.

The self-published book is available at amazon.com.

Email: proctor@northjersey.com