Sam’s Best Shot: A father and son’s life-changing journey through autism, adolescence and Africa

Life with a teenage boy on the autism spectrum has its challenges. Fourteen-year-old Sam is a world authority on Harry Potter but can’t get to the corner store on his own.

Sam’s parents Dr James Best and Benison O'Reilly decide to think radically to help their son. They sell the family home to finance a six-month-long trip to Africa for James and Sam, in the hope that it will have far-reaching and life-changing results for Sam.

Their plan is to take Sam a long way out of his comfort zone, so that he has to face new challenges and learn to navigate the completely unexpected - and that the exposure of all of these new experiences will help Sam grow emotionally and conversationally to achieve what he hasn’t been able to in a familiar environment.

The results were extraordinary and will give hope to many families dealing with autism.

Sam’s Best Shot is the moving and inspiring account of the amazing journey James and Sam took through the teeming cities and stunning landscapes of ten African countries - nerve-wracking and hugely challenging, but also transformative, fulfilling and entertaining. This is a father and son story like no other.

‘James Best and his son travel across Africa in the search for nothing other than randomness and unpredictability. It presents as a travelogue with autism as a sub-plot but, in fact, it is a divine love story of a father and son who are bound together in the adventure of their lifetime.’ Nicole Rogerson, CEO Autism Awareness Australia