in may 1988, a federal judge asked specialists to conduct a study of sharon to determine whether she had sufficient mental capacity to express her wishes with regard to visitation, and, if so, to determine what her wishes were. during that evaluation process, thompson was allowed to visit sharon for the first time in several years. the miller-dwan medical center specialists determined that sharon did have the capacity to do so, and based on their understanding of sharon's wishes thompson was allowed to resume limited visitation in january 1989. in march 1989, thompson published a book about her experience with co-author dr. julie andrzejewski, titled "why can't sharon kowalski come home?"