The mental ability to visualize objects in three-dimensional space, and to imagine them from different perspectives, is a sign of spatial intelligence. This mode of thinking helps explain how our son could never get lost, even in wilderness; and, seemingly without effort, offer up fresh perspectives and solutions on vexing problems. One of his work-related computer programs developed a concise and elegant solution to what had previously been a complex geometrical quandary.
A very practical application of this visualization gift showed up when he was just eight years old. At a family reunion picnic, he most-closely guessed the number of Hershey’s Kisses® in two different sized jars, and won them both!
Our book, Stepping Stones: our pathfinding adventure with Asperger’stinyurl.com/4c6bxw4s recounts our son’s troubles and triumphs at home, school, and work, and how he has learned to cope and overcome. Find out how the journey is everything.
Our son, who has autism spectrum disorder (ASD), was often an inadvertent contributor to his problems by his lack of social savvy—but not always. Bullies can rise up anywhere and everywhere. And at any age. (Apparently, bullies never grow up.) They may even take the more insidious and impersonal form of institutional and systemic bias.
Children with physical, developmental, intellectual, emotional, and sensory disabilities often seem to have a prominent “Kick Me” sign on their backs, a seemingly irresistible target for the bullying mindset. Try as our son might to blend in or stay unnoticed, his “marching to a different drummer” routine attracted attention—especially from those kids who judged him ripe for their mocking, harassing, teasing, taunting, badgering, and bullying.
Often, bullies’ exploitive route is through their victims’ lack of peer support. Having friends can prevent and protect against bullying. But children with special needs often fail to make friends, and may have difficulty getting around, trouble communicating and navigating social interactions, or display signs of vulnerability and emotional distress. All of these challenges mark them as “different,” and increase their risk of aggression from bullies.
Stepping Stones: our pathfinding adventure with Asperger’s introduces the concepts required to continue organizational change. And to all parents and caregivers of children with ASD, this true tale offers pragmatic guidance, self-help encouragement, and real reason for hope. tinyurl.com/4c6bxw4s
“One of the exceptional gifts of Asperger’s Syndrome is the ability to perceive an issue from a unique perspective, which can lead to fresh or surprising solutions.” – from Stepping Stones: our pathfinding adventure with Asperger’s.
Despite some very rough times growing up, when our son’s autism spectrum disorder (ASD) hindered his social development, that same gift later enabled his success as a research engineer with a Master’s in physics.
Stepping Stones is the story of the paths we carved while raising a child on the high functioning sliver of the autism spectrum. We offer it as a trail guide of hope for all parents and caregivers of children with ASD.
We are offering a free ebook copy (pdf or epub) to all who leave a message of “book” with an email address. (See contact page.) All we ask is that you provide an honest review on Amazon when finished reading it. We wish all the best in their daily challenges!
The image shown comes from the book’s back cover. It was created by our son by plotting the solutions of millions of polynomial equations on the complex plane, and stacking and colorizing the result.
I have now lived just as long as Leonardo Da Vinci, and longer than Walt Disney, Abraham Lincoln, Marie Curie, Martin Luther King Jr, Jim Henson, C.S. Lewis, and so many other accomplished men and women I admire—and I can’t help comparing what I’ve done with my life to date.
But that’s not what I should be measuring, is it? I may not have produced a similar depth and breadth of accomplishments, but…
Have I nurtured my own gifts and talents?
Have I well-stewarded the resources I’ve been accountable for?
Have I contributed my best to my tasks, responsibilities, goals, and dreams?
Is my conscience clean, despite my failures, mistakes and shortcomings?
Have I extended grace to those who have disappointed or wronged me?
Have I been a positive influence to those who know me?
Have I loved my family to the utmost, and lived my life with integrity?
If so, I’m ok with that.
And any comparisons with others’ accomplishments are useless.
The most impactful book to me in 2023 was one I wrote with my wife Carol and our youngest son. Stepping Stones: our pathfinding adventures with Asperger’s is our growth journey from accepting “that’s just Philip,” to obtaining a diagnosis on the autism spectrum, to learning how to cope and still succeed. From the distinct advantage of countless wayfinding steps more than 20 years in the making, we offer pragmatic guidance, self-help encouragement, and real reason for hope to all parents and caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder. tinyurl.com/4c6bxw4s
I try to read widely, for both intellectual development and entertainment. Not all my choices pertain directly to my work, or even my personal interests. Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States, recommended to me by my physicist son, wasn’t one I’d have chosen on my own, but it did augment what I learned from the Oppenheimer film this year. Even fiction, when it represents a divergent point of view, can add to my useful stores of knowledge. Ilana’s Love, a book by my friend (which, despite the inference from its title is not a romance novel—a genre I usually do ignore!), furnished a thought-provoking perspective on relationships.
I re-read all 4,100 pages of the 7-volume Harry Potter series, (the first published 26 years ago!) enjoying many details and nuances not found in the films. J.K. Rowling is a master of originality, dialog, character development, and plot complexities.
Is it just me, or are subtitles are getting longer all the time? But then there’s John Grisham, whose obviously successful title formula is: “The __.” Nonetheless, the subtitles do help me better remember the content afterward.
The complete list of those I’ve read last year follows, but here are my personal citations for those I’ve found most captivating, memorable, or practical in the following categories:
Work-related:Herding Tigers: Be the Leader That Creative People Need Biography:Leonardo da Vinci History: The Klondike Fever: The Life and Death of the Last Great Gold Rush Science:An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us Nonfiction: Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home Business:Ice Cream Social: The Struggle for the Soul of Ben & Jerry’s Spiritual:Experiencing God Day by Day Fiction: What Rose Forgot, and The Man Who Died Twice
Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to the Good News?, Philip Yancy
Storytizing: What’s Next After Advertising? Bob Pearson
The Klondike Fever: The Life and Death of the Last Great Gold Rush, Pierre Berton
The Freedom of Self-Forgiveness: The Path to True Christian Joy, Timothy Keller
A Wild Idea: How the Environmental Movement Tamed the Adirondacks, Brad Edmundson
Black Ice, Brad Thor
The Case For Easter: A Journalist Investigates the Evidence for the Resurrection, Lee Strobel
The Cabinet of Dr. Leng, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Seeing Red, Sandra Brown
Jerks at Work: How to Deal with People Problems and Problem People, Ken Lloyd
Born a Yankee, Grace Carstens
Missing Witness, Gordon Campbell
Ilana’s Love, Laurel West
Relic, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, Piers Paul Read
Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home, Nando Parrado with Vince Rause
The Book of Lies, Brad Meltzner
The Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error That Transformed the World, Ken Alder
Sea of Tranquility, Emily St. John Mandel
Reliquary, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
What Rose Forgot, Nevada Barr
Ice Cream Social: The Struggle for the Soul of Ben & Jerry’s, Brad Edmundson
The Book of Fate, Brad Meltzner
Once Upon a Wardrobe, Patti Callahan
Becoming Mrs. Lewis, Patti Callahan
What’s Wrong With Me? A Journal of Emotional Healing in a Broken World, Royce Alan Alford
Leonardo da Vinci, Wallter Isaacson
Stepping Stones: Our pathfinding adventure with Asperger’s, Tim and Carol Herd with Philip Herd
An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us, Ed Yong
The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod, Henry Beston
13½, Nevada Barr
Love Me, Garrison Keillor
Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States, Alex Wellerstein
Address Unknown, Katherine Kressman Taylor
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, John Mark Comer
The Judge’s List, John Grisham
The Troop, Nick Cutter
The Whistler, John Grisham
The Reckoning, John Grisham
What Was Rescued, Jane Bailey
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling
Molly’s Pilgrim, Barba Cohen
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling
The Bullet That Missed, Richard Osman
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
Getting Through the Tough Stuff: It’s Always Something, Charles Swindoll
Herding Tigers: Be the Leader That Creative People Need, Todd Henry
The Man Who Died Twice, Richard Osman
Experiencing God Day by Day, Henry Blackaby and Richard Blackaby
Alone together without other family members this New Year’s Eve for the first time since we were newlyweds in 1978, we decided to join some of the revelers at the First Night festivities in downtown State College.
Under lightly falling snow we toured the ice sculptures and visited the live reindeer pen. We thoroughly enjoyed a performance of the Altoona Brass Collective, five tales from around the world enacted by the Adam Swartz Puppets, and a fascinatingly superb concert by Revamped, a husband and wife violin duo.
We retired early to home to watch Tractor Square Dancing from the Pennsylvania Farm Show (yes, that’s a real thing!), followed by our annual viewing of It’s A Wonderful Life.
We wish everyone a wonderful life! Happy New Year!
