My 21-year old autistic daughter is a
writer. She writes in the morning, she
writes at lunch time, and writes when she gets home from school until she goes
to bed. Her ideas for stories consume
and excite her and she can’t wait to write them, re-write them and then write
them again. She often felt more of a failure than a success because it wasn’t
right the first, second or third time.
However, her complete immersion in her thoughts had always fascinated
me, and I would sneak to read her stories so I could get a glimpse into her
mind and imagination. I wondered if I
could somehow help her complete the process more efficiently. I wondered if I could help her or guide her,
and often offered to edit or review her stories. But to her, they were unfinished and not
ready for anyone or me to see.
And then, a very special person walked into
our lives. His name is Barry
Rudner. Barry was a guest teacher at our
school, Christi/STEPSS Academy, to teach Creative Writing. Christi/STEPSS Academy is a small private
school for learning disabled and typical children, but also has a program for
children with autism. My daughter,
Briana, was one of the fortunate students to be in one of Barry’s classes. I remember the day she came home, barely able
to contain this amazing fact Barry had shared with the class: there is no creativity in Creative
writing. Wait a minute! What!
There is no creativity in Creative Writing? No, Barry said, there is not, but there is a
lot of hard work!
A lightning bolt had hit her, the angels sang
and she saw her writing differently. She
saw that the ideas and experiences can come to the mind and then flow to
paper. But then, the editing and re-editing
was work and a process. She realized
that it was okay that it wasn’t right by the third time, but maybe by the 50th
time or the 100th time, it was nearly perfect. I was so touched by the transformation I
witnessed before me.
I was so grateful to this writer, this author
named Barry Rudner. I needed to get to
know this person a little bit better.
And I can say that my life, and the lives of our students, were enriched
because of him. I do not believe that
there is a topic on which Barry cannot speak.
He is incredibly educated, highly intelligent and is able to see the
world in a way that most of us will never see.
And he was able to reach students that society may have thought were
unreachable.
To Barry, the children were children, the
students were students, and their disabilities were just a part of who they were. The students admired him and he admired
them. And after reading his books, it
is easy to see that he can see the beautiful differences in all children, and
especially children with disabilities.
It doesn’t matter which book you read, You're the Apple of My Face,
The Littlest Tall Fellow, The Handstand, Special Ed, Silent
Voice or any other of his books, Barry is able to show us the challenge,
but also show us the beauty and give us the hope for these children and their
futures. He has been given the gift of
being able to take a person, place or thing and, through words and
illustrations, give us the ability to touch, see and feel through our hearts
and souls. I am sure Barry Rudner has much more beauty to share with us and I,
for one, can’t wait to see where he will take us next.
-------------------------------------
Title:
Silent Voice
Genre:
Children's fiction, Family
Author:
Barry Rudner
Website:
http://www.nickoftime.us
Publisher:
Nick of Time Media, Inc.
Purchase
link: http://www.nickoftime.us/hardcover-books.php
SILENT VOICE: A modern day allegory about autism awareness: that the only ought in autism is
that we ought not ever give up. Ever.
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