Subtitled 'A Mother's Story of Nurturing Genius' this book
tells of a child prodigy, Jake, who overcame autism with
the help of his parents, to astonish the world of physics
by the age of twelve.
Kristine was a city-raised Amish girl who had to leave her
community to marry Michael, in Indiana. Their son Jake was an
early learner of letters and rhymes by heart. But by the age
of two he began losing interest in other children.
Kristine ran a daycare centre and saw the difference
between Jake and other kids. Despite help from
developmental therapists Jake stopped speaking. In October
2000 he got a formal diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, a
form of autism.
"Autism is a thief", says Kristine. "It takes your child
away, your hope, your dreams." Jake had a stunningly high
IQ but preferred to spin in circles or look at lines than
communicate. He got state-funded speech therapy, and family
trips to the petting zoo. Therapists focused on skills
Jake was failing to master. Kristine and Michael stood fast
together and had a second baby boy. State funding for Jake
stopped at age three but intervention works best up to the
age of five. So Kristine kept working by herself. She
noticed that Jake had lined up his crayons in the exact
order of the colours of the rainbow. He had watched a water
glass with the sun shining on it creating a prism spectrum.
Kristine was determined to give Jake a childhood. She let
him play in a water sprinkler, count stars and feel dirt
under his toes. But then Jake joined a developmental
preschool. The teacher told her to stop sending Jake to
school with his beloved alphabet flashcards - he might
never be able to tie his shoelaces. Kristine rebelled and
decided to teach him herself. She just wanted to focus on
what Jake could do, instead of what he couldn't.
Allowed to assemble jigsaws and wooden puzzles, to add up
long numbers and read words on signs, Jake relaxed and
became more chatty. He worked out equations for himself,
beat adults at chess. He memorised driving atlases and
could give explicit directions. All this by the age of
four, though he still couldn't say how his day had been.
Kristine set up a group for other autism spectrum kids.
One child excelled at art, another at taking computers and
TVs apart and repairing them, and given the chance at
Kristin's new after school charity, Little Light, they
flourished and demonstrated considerable talent. Their
exhausted parents were overjoyed.
Aged three Jake went to an observatory lecture on Mars and
astronomy; he had devoured an astronomy text and he
answered a question effortlessly. Aged thirty however,
with a new baby, Kristine had a serious stroke. She was
diagnosed with an autoimmune disease lupus. Michael took
the brunt of all the efforts that had to be made. Jake
went to school and coped well. He sat with his mother and
watched other savants on internet video clips, and he
seemed to have many of their skills. Aged nine he began
taking astronomy classes at university and working out
complex theories. Encouraged, Kristine began a youth sports
club for autistic kids. Everyone became more sociable and
learned to have fun. Then the recession hit the
family. "Everyone was broke and afraid. When the President
comes to Indiana you know you're in trouble." Jake was
tested for and encouraged to apply for college, aged ten.
The bored kid was able to blossom.
Taking official online exams, earning his way into a maths
course, viewing online lectures, Jake suddenly excelled. He
joined Mensa and got an A in college math. Dr. Tremaine in
Princeton confirmed that Jake had created an original
theory in relativity and said that he could be in line for
a Nobel Prize. Jake's first summer job, aged twelve, made
him the youngest astrophysics researcher in the world. He
was able to solve an outstanding problem that career math
researchers had been working on for years. Outside college
he plays with his brothers and enjoys life.
I found this tale fascinating and the level of Kristine's
dedication not just to her own child but to those of other
families was amazing. I did feel that these parents should
have had more care with money - they spent their own cash
on the charity and took no money from parents, so when the
recession hit and they had a mortgage and a derelict
building to renovate, with no work, they had no fallback
and the family had to eat ramen every day and patch up
clothes. For all of us who were profoundly bored by
school, but could change nothing, Kristine's story provides
moral support - the education system doesn't get it right
for everyone. For parents raising children with special
developmental needs of any kind, THE SPARK is a must-read.
Kristine Barnett’s son Jacob has an IQ higher than
Einstein’s, a photographic memory, and he taught himself
calculus in two weeks. At nine he started working on an
original theory in astrophysics that experts believe may
someday put him in line for a Nobel Prize, and at age twelve
he became a paid researcher in quantum physics. But the
story of Kristine’s journey with Jake is all the more
remarkable because his extraordinary mind was almost lost to
autism. At age two, when Jake was diagnosed, Kristine was
told he might never be able to tie his own shoes. The Spark is a remarkable memoir of
mother and son. Surrounded by “experts” at home and in
special ed who tried to focus on Jake’s most basic skills
and curtail his distracting interests—moving shadows on the
wall, stars, plaid patterns on sofa fabric—Jake made no
progress, withdrew more and more into his own world, and
eventually stopped talking completely. Kristine knew in her
heart that she had to make a change. Against the advice of
her husband, Michael, and the developmental specialists,
Kristine followed her instincts, pulled Jake out of special
ed, and began preparing him for mainstream kindergarten on
her own.
Relying on the insights she
developed at the daycare center she runs out of the garage
in her home, Kristine resolved to follow Jacob’s “spark”—his
passionate interests. Why concentrate on what he couldn’t
do? Why not focus on what he could? This basic
philosophy, along with her belief in the power of ordinary
childhood experiences (softball, picnics, s’mores around the
campfire) and the importance of play, helped Kristine
overcome huge odds.
The Barnetts were not
wealthy people, and in addition to financial hardship,
Kristine herself faced serious health issues. But through
hard work and determination on behalf of Jake and his two
younger brothers, as well as an undying faith in their
community, friends, and family, Kristine and Michael
prevailed. The results were beyond anything anyone could
have imagined.
Dramatic, inspiring, and
transformative, The Spark is about the power of love
and courage in the face of overwhelming obstacles, and the
dazzling possibilities that can occur when we learn how to
tap the true potential that lies within every child, and in
all of us.
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