Book Review: On the Spectrum

Posted on by Realistic Autistic
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On the Spectrum: Autism, Faith, & the Gifts of Neurodiversity, by Daniel Bowman Jr. is a series of essays and interviews around the titular topics. The author is an autistic adult, which is a nice change from people talking about autistic people over our heads. The book is Christian-centric, reflecting the author’s beliefs.

Unlike a lot of books written by autistic authors, this one contains very little “this is what happened to me and why I am the way I am!” explanatory story. The author talks a little about his childhood, but it’s not really the focus of the book. Far more than most books I’ve read by autistic adults, this is a topical piece rather than an autobiographical one.

On the Spectrum is also very definitely a work of philosophy and art, rather than a set of self-help or concrete recommendations. My grandmother on my dad’s side would sometimes say of her husband, “He is not of this earth,” referring to his remarkably brilliant but sometimes impractical tendencies. It seems to me that she might describe Mr. Bowman the same way.

I’m not going to try to summarize the philosophy and essays. They’re not exactly disparate, but it’s certainly not a cohesive narrative. On the Spectrum is a book you can read in chunks, an essay here, one there, and not get slowed down by needing to remember what happened before. It is also kind of a feat to marathon, which was my mistake when reading it myself. I only have so much time with which to do things, and most of it is eaten by managing my life. But hey, you know better now, so don’t repeat my mistake.

Notable Points

The book opens with a lot of pain… which is a theme that often plagues many autistic lives. Rarely is it expressed so emotionally… and so I wasn’t surprised to learn Bowman is a poet. It was a bit shocking to me, though, and hence the warning here. His situation does improve, and so the painful tones mostly abate.

I also found similarities to the author in our love of stories. He specifically calls out that they grant you insight into people and stories, as well as predictability. I’m not certain that’s all of why I loved books growing up, but I can’t deny he’s right. Especially in fiction, stories tend to follow certain rules. I effectively carried a book around as a comfort object when I was younger. I’ve now graduated to a tablet, which carries thousands of books. Also the Internet.

The last thing I appreciated was the description of neurodiversity and ableism. Despite being a college professor, Bowman has managed to state these ideas without being pedantic. I feel like some of his thoughts would have been better illustrated with the typical autistic adult autobiography/memoirs format. Despite their lack of scientific validity, anecdotes are spectacular ways to make a point. But I still appreciate that he took the time to say things like “please don’t kill us (also please get help)” and “it gets better.”

He’s probably the most shy autistic adult I’ve read, in terms of sharing his life. We’re all typically so open and honest and “please understand me!” about it that it really surprised me that he wasn’t. That said, nobody is owed another’s story. Even if they’re autistic. Even if that story could potentially change lives or make things better. A person’s life and perspective are theirs. Nobody has the right to demand it be shared.

That’s something at least one person in my church doesn’t seem to understand, to my irritation. You wouldn’t just walk up to someone on the street and demand they share their life story. They’d quite rightly tell you to bugger off.

Read This Book If

You’re interested in a work of prose and philosophy around the title’s subjects. On the Spectrum is not a typical autistic adult memoir, it’s a series of essays and interviews on those topics. Church leaders and staff would probably benefit most from reading this book, as well as church members with an interest in these things. It’s written well, and approachably. It’s markedly different from pretty much every other book by autistic adults I’ve read. I’d read it again when I have time, so I could digest it better.

RtR: Managing Anxiety with Movement

Posted on by Realistic Autistic
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Welcome back to Reading the Research! I trawl the Internet to find noteworthy research on autism and related subjects to share with you. Along the way I discuss the findings with bits from my own life, research, and observations.

Today’s article is confirmation of what my doctor has been telling me all along: managing anxiety can be a physical problem, not a brain problem.

Our typical understanding of depression and anxiety is that it’s a brain issue. One you treat with drugs, and maybe with therapy. The thing is, in the US we live in a profoundly unhealthy culture. We sit all day instead of doing active things on our feet. We eat large amounts of things that have little or no nutrition. In our homes and offices, we breathe air polluted with car exhaust, printer particles, and mold.

If all these factors weren’t in the picture, yeah, anything still occurring would be a brain issue. But that’s not how it is. So we have studies like this, showing that you can manage anxiety with exercise. This was a larger study, almost 300 people, which helps establish its credibility for showing a pattern. Like me, the participants typically had chronic anxiety and had suffered from it for at least a decade.

I’ve talked about the importance of movement for living your best life in the past. This is actually why, when I went job hunting earlier this year, I opted for physical jobs. I started out throwing boxes for UPS, which is excellent exercise. Now I’m doing a bit lighter of work processing envelopes. But I’m still feeling and doing far better than before. Managing my anxiety has never been easier.

It’s like the exercise burns off the energy I’d use for worrying and stressing about stuff. I’m just calmer and happier every day because I have that movement in my life.

Having movement in your job isn’t the only way to manage anxiety, mind. Some jobs, like administrative ones, simply don’t allow for that. So instead you can go for walks, do hobbies that get you moving and outdoors, or even opt for things as simple as standing desks. All without needing medication and having to manage the side effects that come with it.

(Pst! If you like seeing the latest autism-relevant research, visit my Twitter! There are links and comments on studies that were interesting, but didn’t get a whole Reading the Research article about them.)