She thought she would spend her life teaching her son with Down syndrome. Instead, he became her greatest teacher.

When Patti Smiths first child, Christopher, was born with Down syndrome in 1978, a doctor advised her to place him in an institution.

She looked at her baby and knew she never could.

Patti expected a lifetime of teaching and caring for Christopher. But over the next forty-plus years, something unexpected happened: Christopher became the teacher.

Affectionately known as Professor Higgins, he would challenge his driven, perfectionist mothers ideas about success, happiness, patience, acceptance, and what it means to live a meaningful life.

Told through 24 unforgettable lessons, this joyful and candid memoir follows Patti and Christopher through the heartbreaks, triumphs, absurdities, surprises, and laugh-out-loud moments of an extraordinary mother-son relationship.

Along the way, Christopher sings and dances onstage, surprises people with his gift for languages, charms almost everyone he meets, and repeatedly reminds his mother that life doesnt always have to go according to plan to turn out beautifully.

Funny, moving, and deeply human, Unexpected Lessons from Professor Higgins is a celebration of family, Down syndrome, and the unexpected teachers who change the way we see the world.

Perfect for parents and families of people with Down syndrome, caregivers, educators, and anyone who has discovered that some of lifes greatest lessons arrive in ways we never expected.