On the Spectrum: Autism, Faith, and the Gifts of Neurodiversity

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Synopsis

After experiencing crises in both his personal and professional lives, poet and literature professor Daniel Bowman was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of thirty-five. It was an eye-opening revelation that helped to shed light on lifelong behaviors that previously had no explanation. Through a series of essays in On the Spectrum, he explores what it means to be autistic, the intersection of autism and faith, and how autism can actually be a gift rather than a deficiency. In sharing his story, he hopes to help autistics better understand how to live into the fullness of who they are, while helping the neurotypical community better understand how to love their neurodiverse neighbors.

Review

Daniel Bowman Jr. is a writer, poet, and professor of English at Taylor University. He's previously published a book of poetry, but On the Spectrum is his first narrative work. He opens with the brief story of how he was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as an adult at the age of thirty-five and a little of what life was like before his diagnosis and after. The rest of the book is more or less a series of essays that explore the intersections of faith and neurodiversity. It's split up into sections that generally group the essays by topic. It begins with Foundations, which discusses what autism is and how to approach reading the book, how autistic people deserve dignity, what it's like to "come out" as autistic, what it was like for himself as a young man with undiagnosed autism, and how we should start treating autism wholistically rather than pathologically. From there, he moves on to Place, where he relates stories of comforting places and objects, making culture with autism, and his personal interest in riding his motorcycle. In Community, Worship, and Service, the author explores autism and the church, an experience he had in a Christian community known as Antler, the difficulties of being in service while on the spectrum, and a conference he attended where he had the privilege of meeting Father Richard Rohr. In Writing, Teaching, and Learning, he touches on being an autistic poet, how he finds many Christian novels to be "bad," an experience he had reading poetry at the mall, a literature conference at his university, and his struggles with antidepressants leaving him feeling emotionless. In Family and Identity, Mr. Bowman talks about tracing his family history, attending the wedding of some friends, and connecting with his daughter through literature. He includes three interviews he did with various people. Then he wraps up with New Directions which contains an essay on the importance of #OwnVoices autistic representation in art, a letter he wrote to two respected mentors and how their influence helps him mentor his own students, and the story of how he and some students started a campus group for autistics.

In an effort to be more inclusive of our neurodivergent congregants, my church offered an eight-week, in-depth study of On the Spectrum, which is just now concluding. As someone who has recently come to the realization that I'm probably on the spectrum, I eagerly signed up for the class when it was announced. The class has been interesting in that I was able to discuss neurodiversity with other people and learn from them. The book itself, in some ways, has been even more helpful, because many of the author's experiences mirror my own. The one way in which we differ greatly is that he's found solace and a home in poetry, which is something that I've struggled to grasp due to my difficulties understanding metaphor and symbolism. However, as a fellow writer and lover of literature, I still found a great deal of connection with Mr. Bowman. I also found myself very much relating through the commonalities of autistic traits that we share. As a fellow Christian as well, I liked how he related autism with faith and how he explored the need for many Christian communities to do better when it comes to welcoming people on the spectrum. I did go into reading the book with the expectation of a linear story, so one small detractor was the fact that it's really a series of essays, rather than a cohesive narrative. It did help somewhat, though, that the essays were grouped together by themes and the author warned in the opening chapters about what kind of book it would be. However, because of my own brain blocks, I did still wrestle a bit with a few of the chapters that had a more metaphorical bent. Otherwise, I thought this was a good book that took a balanced look at autism and faith. Much like it was for my church, I think it could be very helpful to other churches or individual Christians who are ready to explore the concepts of neurodiversity and be more welcoming toward people on the spectrum.

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Daniel Bowman Jr.