Kristine Barnett - A szikra - Egy mother history a zseninevelésről

Kristine Barnett's son has an IQ higher than Einstein's, has a photographic memory, and taught himself function theory in two weeks. At the age of nine, Jacob began to develop an original astrophysical theory for which experts say he may one day receive a Nobel Prize, and at the age of twelve, he was already conducting quantum physics research for pay. But what makes his story all the more remarkable is that Jake's extraordinary mind is almost lost in the fog of autism. At the age of two, when his condition was diagnosed, his mother was told that this child might never be able to tie his own shoes.

The spark is a special memory of a mother. After Jake was surrounded by "experts" at home and in developmental preschool who tried to focus on the most basic skills and limited him in anything that took his attention away from them - studying the stars, the moving shadows on the wall, the checkered sofa cover - Jake mentally made no progress at all. Kristine felt she had to change that. Instead of the specialists and her husband Michael, she listened to her own instincts, took Jake out of the developmental kindergarten and set about preparing him for the large group of kindergarten herself.

Relying on his experiences at the family day care center he ran in the garage of their house, he worked determinedly to ignite the "spark" he noticed in Jacob - the passionate interest. He decided not to worry about what his son couldn't do, but rather to focus on his abilities. This principle, along with a belief in the importance of games and normal childhood experiences (playing ball, going out, baking in the garden) helped Kristine overcome incredible obstacles.

The Barnetts were not well-to-do, and in addition to financial problems, Kristine had to deal with her own serious health problems. With persistent work, Kristine and Michael, determined devotion to Jake and his two younger brothers, as well as unshakable faith in the cooperation of relatives and acquaintances, they achieved results that exceeded all expectations. The spark is a dramatic, thought-provoking, perspective-shaping story about the power of love and courage in the face of terrifying difficulties, about the dazzling possibilities that are revealed when we learn how to fully exploit the abilities actually hidden in every child, in all of us.