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Barnett, K. (2013). The spark: A mother's story of nurturing genius. Toronto, ON: Random House Canada.
I confess to picking up this book when I was in a pinch for something to read on an airplane flight. It caught my eye primarily because I saw some math on the dust jacket and the word "genius." The fact that it is written by a mother about her prodigious son, who joined the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo at the age of 15 (Perimeter Institute, 2013; note the book predates this event), was all part of the fascinating discovery path to which the book and subsequent reading has led me.
The story highlights a bright youngster, who at a very young age, took a turn for the worst and began withdrawing to the extent that he was diagnosed with autism. Subsequently, when he was old enough to enroll in school, there were struggles, and the book gives a very insightful picture of the parental perspective of autism. The need for different therapies, in addition to school, and the overwhelming issues of handling day-today life are eye-opening. This alone would be beneficial for all teachers to read.
As the book progresses, I was struck by the need for teachers to be on the lookout for enrichment opportunities -not programmatic opportunities; rather, the moments to steer students toward learning that may not be for every student in the class. Programmatic options entail special education that addresses 17 percent of students (Gallagher-Mackay & Kidder, 2014), which includes 2 percent deemed to be gifted (Matthews, 2006)....