Reddit reviews The Spark: A Mother's Story of Nurturing, Genius, and Autism

At least one of the reviews (I’m on mobile but I’ll find it later) lists all the things she says about the area which don’t match up to the reviewer’s knowledge of it.

I haven’t read the book, but there’s an extract on Amazon you can read. She does not come across as a reliable narrator.

ETA the review;
https://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/0812983564/ref=cm_cr_unknown?ie=UTF8&filterByStar=two_star&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=1#reviews-filter-bar

I happened to add this book to my reading pile when at the library, not knowing much about it other than it was about a mom who turned her son's challenges into extraordinary abilities. After reading most of it, I commend her for all her hard work, dedication, and diligence in seeking the best life for her son.

What I didn't realize when selecting the book was the author lives in the same time as the library where I checked the book out! It made the book much more interesting to me as I recognized the name of the local hospital, large church where she created her sports club, and even had a hunch which Target store her husband likely works in. I live directly north of Carmel, I work Carmel and I am a lifelong resident of Hamilton County.

We are a county of suburban sprawl at its finest. Directly north of downtown Indy, the county is filled with strip malls galore, housing addition after housing addition, constant road construction, and lots of traffic. It is the most affluent county in the state, and one of the most affluent counties in the country. Carmel in particular, is constantly busting at the seams from the overpopulation of yuppy suburbanites. She paints a picture of a farm field being right down the road from her, and yes, I am sure there is one (Indiana is a farming state in the midwest, after all)...but the bulk of Carmel and surrounding towns' farmland was replaced with strip malls and housing additions in the late 90's.

The author's description of "single lane gravel roads through real farm country" to get to the town of Kirklin, Indiana actually made me laugh out of loud (a very small town where some of my family lives, so I am very familiar with it).

I'm not sure what route she was taking to get to her dilapidated building in Kirklin! She should consider purchasing a better GPS device, because while gravel roads do exist near Kirklin (easily passable by two cars, btw), there is no reason one would be traveling on one to get there from the Carmel area. Hamilton County in particular has not had a SINGLE gravel road in well over 25 years. Yes, Kirklin is north and a bit west of most of Hamilton County, but the area between Carmel and Kirklin is not exactly uninhabited. Although her description of "blink and you'll miss it" is correct, Kirklin's main street is also US Highway 421/Michigan Road. Yes, it's a very small town and yes, it is in a rural farming area, but it is located on a major highway that runs directly there from the west side of Carmel. Hardly the rustic, unknown lost town that no one has ever heard of!

If I weren't so caught up in the oddly majestic farmland oasis description of the area, I might have enjoyed it more. Mostly it seemed like the account of a dedicated mom boasting of all she's achieved (who can blame her?!) and overcome with her own children and genius young son, in particular.

Here is another article. Both parents have been charged.

It also looks like the mother 'might be' a published author with a best-seller on Amazon about how amazing her parenting skills are. I am 90% sure this is the same person, Check the 'about the author' section. There is also this article from Indiana discussing how much of an inspiration the mother is. I'm going to keep digging.

Sickening.

I'm headed to lexis now to check for the court documents.

An article on the son she writes about is here. The timelines are perfect from moving from Indiana to Canada.

Edit: Oh hey, it's /u/Hysterymystery I replied to. Big fan of yours! I'm generally a lurker, but this case has angered me.

You have a wonderful attitude toward your daughter's diagnosis. I think you are thinking about the rights kinds of issues - especially with autistic girls, who tend to mask their autism - it's so important to be aware of keeping their self esteem intact through the school years. /r/aspergirls is a great resource.

Here is what my developmental ped told me about ABA when my daughter was diagnosed:

https://old.reddit.com/r/autism/comments/9tfdrl/my_3_year_old_was_diagnosed_today_and_the/

Here is a thread I recently posted about how you may encounter speech therapists or occupational therapists who use ABA techniques and how to avoid:

https://old.reddit.com/r/aspergers/comments/bhothm/to_all_parents_avoiding_aba_your_speech_therapist/

And the two books my developmental pediatrician recommended which might be up your alley:

The Spark: A Mother's Story of Nurturing, Genius, and Autism

https://www.amazon.com/Spark-Mothers-Nurturing-Genius-Autism/dp/0812983564

Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism

https://www.amazon.com/Uniquely-Human-Different-Seeing-Autism/dp/1476776237/ref=sr_1_2?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpandstmE4gIVi-NkCh0yagCbEAAYAiAAEgLY4PD_BwE&hvadid=253907963486&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9030102&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t2&hvqmt=e&hvrand=1434658516908047116&hvtargid=kwd-422459949508&hydadcr=22538_9636739&keywords=book+uniquely+human&qid=1557069906&s=gateway&sr=8-2

The mother apparently wrote a book about raising autistic kids. I shudder to think what her idea of nurturing is - but maybe she doesn't neglect/abandon her bio kids, idk.

In 2013, Kristine Barnett’s memoir, “The Spark: A Mother’s Story of Nurturing, Genius, and Autism” was published by Random House. NPR book critic Maureen Corrigan wrote in The Washington Post that the book was “compulsive reading,” adding, “Barnett not only fights heroically on Jake’s behalf, she also beats down every other obstacle that life hurls at her and her family.”

Meanwhile, not long after his 15th birthday, Jacob began taking classes at the prestigious Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario. His parents told the Star that they moved the whole family to Canada in the summer of 2013 so that he could follow his passion, putting their Indiana home on the market.

Around that same time, the Barnetts’ adopted daughter told police, her parents rented her an apartment in downtown Lafayette, Ind., near the home of Purdue University. She knew no one there. Michael Barnett later told detectives that he and his then-wife paid the rent on the apartment but didn’t provide the girl with any other financial support.

What happened next is unclear, though an anonymous law enforcement source told WLFI that the girl’s neighbors “took her under their wing.” Court documents obtained by WISH-TV show that she was evicted for not paying rent in May 2014, less than a year after her adoptive parents left her alone in the apartment. Since she left no forwarding address, court officers weren’t able to figure out where she had gone, or follow up with her for the money she owed.

That same year, the Barnetts filed for divorce, according to the station. Though Jake still lives in Canada, where he is pursuing a PhD in quantum gravity at the Perimeter Institute, both Michael and Kristine have moved back to Indianapolis.

In September 2014, the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office tracked down their adoptive daughter at the behest of a school principal who had raised concerns, WLFI reported. Based on the medical records cited in the affidavit, she would have been 12 or 13 at the time. Legally, however, she was well into her mid-20s. Authorities haven’t said what came of the meeting, and another five years would pass before the Barnetts were charged with neglect.

What happened in the intervening years, too, is a mystery. The police affidavit states that the girl left Lafayette and Tippecanoe County in February 2016. Additional court filings unearthed by WISH-TV show that 15 days after that, another couple petitioned to become her guardians. The Barnetts filed an objection. In January 2018, the station reported, the new couple changed their mind about the adoption, for reasons that weren’t specified. The Barnetts’ petition was subsequently dismissed.

Though charges were filed Wednesday, neither of the Barnetts has been booked or arraigned. Court records don’t indicate if either has an attorney. And authorities have hinted that there could be even more strange details to come.

“This is going to end up on a TV show,” an anonymous law enforcement official told WLFI on Thursday.