The Bottom Line
by Kathleen Deyer Bolduc; 140 pages. From the Back Cover: "What role does faith play in helping families cope with the challenges of autism? God's grace glimmers through as Joel, an intellectually challenged young adult with autism, teaches those who love him that life requires childlike faith, humility, trust, compassion, forgiveness, openness to all of God's gifts."
In this conveniently purse-sized book, slice-of-life vignettes combine with Bible verses, prayers, and poetry to turn common experiences of families of individuals with autism into a source of inspiration, insight, and comfort.
Pros
- Offers a message of faith for times when it's hard for parents to find theirs
- Personal vignettes are well-written and easy to relate to
- Issues of adults with autism included in the mix
- Poems provide a nice, quick-reading variation from the essays
- Nice size for easy toting in purse or pack
Cons
- Those of a different faith or no faith may want to skip over the religious content
- Those with different approaches to autism may find some of the essays troubling
- Stories aren't titled or categorized to help readers find specific topics
Description
- Immersion
For Me!
All You Need Is Love
God of Heaven, Asleep in Straw - Meltdown
Waiting Rooms
The Band-Aid
We Need Jesus - You Are Enough
On Being Pruned
A Piece of Heaven on Earth
A New Song - Trash Man for Heaven
Pearl Beyond Price
Walking the Labyrinth
Of Walnut Trees and Angels - Emmaus Eyes
Resurrection
Desert Baptism
Desert Walk - Lessons from the Pew
Joel's Got a Girlfriend
Life on the Edge
A Shepherd's Story - The Prayer Quilt
An Angel Named Mohamed
Kiss the Bride
Answered Prayer - Hope That Does Not Disappoint
The Master Weaver
Friends for Life
The Blessing - The Baccalaureate
Easter's Promise
Finding the Alleluia
Transitions - Swimming with the Honu
Princess Pocahontas
Letting Go
Guide Review - Book Review: Autism & Alleluias
Not long before reading Autism & Alleluias, I read a very similar book called A Different Dream for My Child. Both books are conveniently sized to fit in a purse or pack, both combine small stories from the lives of parents of special-needs children with Bible verses and prayerful reflections, both bring a message of faith to situations in which parents too often have trouble finding their own.
When I finished reading Different Dream, which focuses on children with serious illnesses, I thought, "Someone should write something like this for kids with developmental disabilities." And what do you know, here it is.
Author Bolduc, who's written previously about her son Joel in His Name Is Joel: Searching for God in a Son's Disability and A Place Called Acceptance: Ministry With Families of Children With Disabilities, shares stories from throughout her life with Joel, who's now a young adult with autism. The fact that it includes the perspective of autism in adulthood sets the book apart from other memoirs that focus on early childhood and leave readers with big questions about where the story went from there.
For those who share Bolduc's Christian faith, Autism & Alleluias will be a great source of reflection, perspective, and comfort. Those who don't may still enjoy the short slice-of-life stories that run between the opening verse and closing prayer in each several-page chapter. As most parents learn as we raise our children with special needs, inspiration can come from all sorts of sources, and you wouldn't want to turn any of it down.
