Publisher and Publication Date: Night Owl Books. August 10, 2018.
Genre: Nonfiction. Autism.
Pages: 148.
Source: I received a complimentary paperback copy from the author, but was not required to leave a positive review.
Rating: Very good. Recommended.
Audience: Readers interested in mental health conditions, autism, and reading memoirs.
Summary:
Gayle Nobel’s son was born in 1983. He has autism. Nobel has written Space of Love to share her life story of raising a son who has autism. Nobel hopes the memoir will help other parents who are in a similar situation.
A primary element of the book is Nobel shares the struggles and insights of a son who has autism.
The book has several poems written by Nobel.
My Thoughts:
The main reason I like this book is it is written from the strong perspective of a mom who has raised a child who has autism. And, she shares insights from how her other children have viewed and responded to their brother. I believe this helps other parents who have an autistic child to know about autism and feel a kindred spirit in Nobel.
Space of Love is a brief look at Nobel’s life. The book is written from her thoughts, and ways of dealing with situations. She is more relaxed than other parents I know personally. I believe it’s because this has been a lengthy process of 35 years.
She stated on page 27, in response to dealing with the hard times, “Allow intuition to show me what to do next and next and next.” I believe intuition is stronger in some individuals than others. Intuition is a gift, some have this gift and some do not. I believe that in caring for a person who has autism or other special needs, a comfortableness about caregiving evolves.
Nuggets of truth are sprinkled throughout the book. For example: “It looks to me like we overthink the possibilities, creating worry and fear, until we’re emotionally exhausted.” Page 102.
On page 115, Nobel addresses her belief with the enlightment experience through, “The Three Principles.” This is more of an off topic addressed in the “Acknowledgements” section. Nobel believes this helped her in her spiritual understanding of life.
At the tale end of the book is a couple of additional chapters, “Serendipity” and “Connections.” These last two chapters spoke to me the most, because they are deeply heart-felt and wise.
On a personal note, my twelve year old grandson, Dawson, has ADHD, Tourette’s syndrome, and moderate level autism. Reading Space of Love was a strong interest to me, because of Dawson. I feel this book helped me to understand that life really does go on, and all of us in this family are going to be just wonderful.
Impressions In Ink 