(Review) The Spark: A Mother's Story of Nurturing Genius By Kristine Barnett

I was never
much of a fan of non-fiction. Instead, I always liked to immerse myself into
fictional tales of almost any genre – visiting far off lands and far off lives
and being able to leave them when I closed the pages. Then I was bought a copy
of “The Spark” the only book that has every caused me to make a life altering decision.

Kristine
Barnett’s son, Jake, is diagnosed with autism at the age of two. Kristine and her
husband Michael are devastated when they are told he is so badly affected he might
never even tie his own shoe laces and they follow the expert advice to put him
into a special

education program.

As part of
the program Jakes interests – shadows moving across the room, the patterns in
fabrics – are seen as distractions and he is made to focus on acquiring the
basic skills that most people develop without thinking. As a consequence Jake
withdraws even further from the world around him and eventually stops speaking completely.

Against the advice of the experts and the wishes of her husband,
Kristine takes Jake out of special ed and begins preparing him for mainstream kindergarten
in her own home daycare. Keeping play at the centre of his learning, relying on
the types of ordinary childhood experiences most of us take for granted and
being led by Jakes interests Kristine and her family help the spark within Jake
ignite.

Such is the power of this story, my husband & I began to consider
homeschooling our youngest son with autism. At first we worried that it wouldn't be best for him but after the move from kindergarten to first grade went very
badly we took a leap of faith and withdrew him from school. As a consequence he
is thriving so I can truly say that The Spark changed, not just my life – who’d
have thought I’d ever be a home school mum? – but the lives of our entire
family.

If you only read one non-fiction book this year make it The Spark – it’s
not about autism, it’s about the brilliance inside us all.