I love the happy outcome of the story of now-15-year-old Jacob Barnett. At age 2, Jacob lost the ability to speak and was diagnosed with moderate to severe autism. After awhile, his mom decided that the time he was spending with therapy was taking away from his childhood.
According to the article “Autistic Teen Working on Astrophysics Ph.D.” from ABC News, Jacob’s mother said:
“We were forgetting his childhood. His spirit was being crushed by the opinion that everything was wrong,” …. “I resolved to give it back to him.”
That night, Barnett took Jacob out after dark, turned on fog lights of her car, put on some Louis Armstrong, laid on hood of the car with him and looked at the stars.
“Little did I know it would be those stars that would bring him back into our world,” she said.
From then on, Jacob’s mother followed his interests. Following Jacob’s interests led to Jacob regaining his ability to speak and teaching himself to read by 3½. He’s now working on his Ph.D. in Astrophysics. What an perfect example of naturally using the basic Montessori principle of following the child! (See “Top 10 Montessori Principles for Natural Learning.”)
Tests have shown that Jacob has a higher IQ than Albert Einstein. You can see Jacob giving a TedxTeen Talk at age 13. His advice is to “stop learning and start thinking.”
Isn’t that awesome?!
I have lots of quotes and word-art inspiration at the Bits of Positivity Facebook page and on Pinterest!
Linked with Ultimate Mom Resources and Sunday Parenting Party
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There is an entire Autism treatment program built around the “follow the child principle” called “Floor Time”. I don’t think it’s explicitly based on Montessori principles but it’s a very similar concept. It has demonstrated some success with Autistic children under 10 but I’m not aware of any large scale studies about its effectiveness.
Thanks so much for your comment, Chloe! I just looked up Floortime, and it sounds fascinating. I’d love to hear more from parents who have experience with it. 🙂
The story is really amazing. I am blessed to be married to a physiotherapist and have met truly remarkable parents and their kids. Disabilities only exist in our ignorance. Society’s behaviour and support makes all the difference.
Really terrific story! Truly accepting these children and supporting them at every turn is crucial to their success in life!
There have been many studies that show that Mother’s of children with Special Needs, have the same type of stress levels as a soldier in combat… Now, for me personally, I think I could never be compared to our soldier’s who are in harm’s way, every day.
truly an inspiration. my son is him at 3 years old, looking at light and shadows, lines and shapes. I can only hope he too can find a voice and follow his passion
We have had positive feedback about this concept from multiple books and therapist. They state that following the child’s interest and then channeling it into something instructional is key. So, I usually let him play with whatever he wants and I let him explore as much as possible. I’m not sure if this is considered on the same idea plan.
Also, don’t think I would give up on my son’s preschool/therapy center or OT. I think they pick up a lot of slack for me.
Really mind blowing story you have shared here. The story is a great inspiration for others. Life has so many parts and colors.
~Ray