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Title: Spirituality and the Autism Spectrum- Of Falling Sparrows
Author(s): Isanon, Abe
Published: 2001
Copies: 2
Summary: Defining spirituality as 'the spirit with which we confront concrete reality', this is the first book to focus on the spirituality of people with autism spectrum disorders. Drawing on verbal and non-verbal narratives, Abe Isanon explores the individual's struggle to come to terms with his or her humanity, as well as the spirituality of those who can neither reflect upon, nor express, their own life experiences, and how this affects both them and their carers. This thought-provoking account will inspire all those who live and work with autism to strive for a better understanding of the spiritual nature of autism.
Parent Comments: Without trying to be too blunt, this is possibly the worst book that has come out of the Jessica Kingsley publishers. Honestly, it just doesn't read very well. It is disjointed, scattered and extremely difficult to follow. What's more is that it takes a potentially great topic and makes a mess of it. The author of this book decided to profile 3 people on the spectrum, two of them fairly well known(Donna Willams and Temple Grandin) and one who is not well known. The author focuses the majority of his attention on Adam, who describes his view of spirituality. While I enjoyed reading about Adam's view of spirituality, I did not enjoy reading the author's intepretation of it. At times it is as if he is speaking another language entirely. What's more, the research is poorly done with hardly any references listed and poor methodology. For a book like this, the author should have talked to hundreds of individuals on the spectrum and meta-anaylzed the data instead of qualatatively analyzing three individuals. What's more, the author relied on reading Donna Willams and Temple Grandin's books for his "sources" instead of talking with them personally. Overall this is one to be avoided. Nick Dubin M.A ED

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