Most people like to know what a book is about before they buy it. They might even browse a few pages to see if it hold their interest. Last Monday I published my first book as an ebook, and it is currently being reviewed by a publisher in the UK for possible print publication. Even if they turn it down, I will publish the book myself through Lulu. In this blog post, you will get a chapter-by-chapter summary of my book entitled "The Doctor Is In: My Success at the Crossroads of Autism and Spirituality". You can buy the ebook for $6.99, or get a reading sample of it, by clicking HERE. Each chapter contains life lessons learned along the way. To get what will benefit you, you really have to read the whole book. After all, that's why I wrote it.
1- The Brilliance of Autism
This primer chapter prepares the reader to expand their view of how a person with autism can function, often brilliantly, when given the chance. Between thinking differently and being artistic in nature, the person with autism can achieve practically anything they put their mind to. They may need a little encouragement and support from a mentor, but this doesn’t mean that they are incapable. The literal definition of the word “autism” is also discussed.
2- What If Your Doctor Had Autism?
One’s perspective of a person with autism is changed from one who is incapacitated to one who is capable of great professional achievement. This chapter takes an intimate look into how my mind processes information about a patient’s condition, integrating exam findings and knowledge of anatomy and physiology, in order to come up with the best care plan. It also takes a look at how I converse with a person who is under my care. I discuss what steps I take to help my patients feel more at ease if they feel unsure about the way I communicate or about the exam/care techniques I use. Since patients do tend to pick up on the fact that there is something “different” about my social demeanor, they may feel awkward when interacting with me.
3 - In the Beginning
This chapter tells the story of my childhood struggles, starting at the age of five months, with numerous illnesses, some of them chronic. I talk about the developmental delays and the neurological problems, perhaps even the autism itself, which most likely resulted from the near-fatal illness in infancy. I explain what measures helped to improve my stamina and coordination, and I offer relevant solutions. I take the reader on a journey through the mind of a child that is losing his self-esteem, confidence, and sense of belonging as he gets older and is being bullied all throughout the school years. I explain how personal interests and beliefs kept me from hitting rock bottom, steering me clear of self-destructive behaviors.
There were some “saving graces” along the way with some friendships, yet there were also those “friendships”, though inappropriate in nature, that I sought out in order to try to fit in. One saving grace in particular opened the door for me to develop and interest in public service as a way of boosting my ailing self-esteem. All along in this and other chapters, practical advice is given to the reader on how to help the individual with an ASD cope and develop practical skills.
4 - The Early Adult Years
Now feeling good about myself as a fireman at the age of nineteen, I talk about how my heart condition led me to change course in my pursuit of a feeling of purpose. I talk about how learning difficulties and social naïveté led to either early departures or bullying even in the work place. I also talk about how suffering from yet more chronic ailments caused delays in my educational and professional endeavors. I discuss more about social challenges, making mention of my “double whammy” of not only having autism but also being an INFJ personality type. This chapter takes the reader to the day I graduated from graduate school as a Doctor of Chiropractic.
5 - At a Glance
Here we take a look at my life in general as opposed to specific events in progression. I talk about how I am seen from an objective point of view by those whom have known me over the years, and my family life is also discussed. Details of my stimming behaviors are brought to light as are how these stimming behaviors and obsessive-compulsive tendencies were actually put to practical use in work settings.
6 - Forming Rules to Survive
This chapter will be of particular interest to the reader who would like specific solutions related to learning how to multitask and learning new skills. I talk from personal experiences about how I discovered to do such things over time by forming pictures in my mind. I continue my life journey into the world of taking on roles that required such skills and found myself in situations that most people with autism would be deemed incapable of handling. Again, I mention the dire need for a person with learning and social difficulties to have a specific mentor that he can work with them over time. In this way, one can feel comfortable being with one person, a person that totally believes in him and gives him all the confidence and self-esteem in order for him to accomplish his goals and feel good about himself.
7 - Between Here and There
Between December of 1999 and August of 2002, I moved to different areas of the U.S. eight different times. This chapter takes a detailed look at this journey and the problems faced, which involved all the hardships that a person with autism could possibly face. Chronic illness, loss of jobs, inability to communicate, impoverished conditions, dwindling hope, rejection, loneliness, and an affinity for non-success are all explained through my mind’s eye, based on real-life situations encountered during this period of time. This chapter aims to offer empathy and understanding to those who may be faced with any of these challenges in order to say, “I’ve been there too.”
8 - Relationships & Married Life
Dating and developing relationships is discussed through personal experiences. I draw a contrast between what most neurotypical males think and why the sensitivity of an autistic person is always a wonderful thing. Most of this chapter focuses on my ten-year relationship with my former wife and the struggles we faced together due to my health and autism issues. This chapter of the book encompasses the whole of the time I spent living in the state of Minnesota.
Thanks to issues that threatened my marriage, years before it finally did ended, I received my official diagnosis with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Issues with communication, showing empathy, and having memory problems were all reasons in which marriage counseling was sought. Although not changing the state of the marriage itself to a great degree, receiving my autism diagnosis did change the way I look at the events of my life tremendously. When the marriage did end, the decision to make the change was completely mine. Now having greater insight as to who I was as a person and what I was capable of, it was time to move on. Also discussed in this chapter are the benefits of owning a pet, especially a dog, and how life events need to be viewed as lessons that need to be followed through on.
9 - Compromising and Other Things That Work
I address my fellow auties, people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, as I give practical advice for how to “compromise”. Being able to recognize the needs of others is an ongoing challenge for many people with autism. In a teamwork situation, whether it be with family members or coworkers, meeting the needs of others oftentimes requires the ability to compromise. It can be done, though, if they look at it as a “rulemaking” process. I offer advice for how to manage stress through metal relaxation, and I talk about safe and natural alternatives to some of the medications that are commonly prescribed for people with autism if they also have some form of anxiety or mild depression. I end by asserting that every individual is responsible to take care of him/herself, autie and neurotypical alike. No excuses.
10 - Practical Advice
I picked seven different practical topics in which I give useful tips to the person with autism. The topics discussed are making and keeping friends, accepting change, choosing a career, empathic attunement, the importance of getting an actual diagnosis with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, how to handle meltdowns, and understanding emotions. Some of these same topics and short essays are included in the book that is being published at this time by Jessica Kingsley Press entitled “Been There. Done That. Try This!” by Craig Frailin Evans and Anita Lesko.
11 - Madman in the Desert
Continuing on with my life journey after divorce, the next stop is the Sonoran Desert in Yuma, Arizona. But first, I made a two-and-a-half-month visit to my home state of Pennsylvania to care for my ailing father. Once in Yuma, although faced with the same challenges as I had anywhere else, sources of sustenance seemed to magically appear when all seemed as hopeless as it didn’t during my “Between Here and There” days. This chapter ends at the present day.
The “madman” reference refers to a dire need for etheric (spiritual, unearthly) healing in relation to events that transpire from across the miles between me and a close female friend. It also refers to my contemplations in life, many of which take place while meditating in the desert around the Fortuna Foothills area of Yuma. From the “madman” discussion onward in the book, most topics
are spiritual in nature and make heavy reference to Eastern philosophies and metaphysical concepts. I talk about how these rather deep inner dialogs helped me to see my life events, including having autism itself, in a more uplifting and positive frame of mind.
12 - The Book of Healing
I divert somewhat from the main topics of autism and spirituality in this chapter as I discuss the concept of mind-body-spirit healing. First, I explain the true meaning of the word “holistic” and how it is very different from “integrative,” which is what many people mistaken it for. In order to adequately explain mind-body-spirit healing, I give detailed descriptions of the anatomy and physiology of the three bodies that constitute the human being, the physical body, the mind, and the etheric body (spirit). I talk about how the three main sources of stress (physical, toxic, and psychological) affect the three bodies and, since they are intertwined, also the whole. This chapter also gives the reader advice on how to optimally care for each of the three bodies so that the whole being is maintained in a holistic way.
13 - Autie Ego
The reason why many autistic people, especially those with Asperger’s Syndrome, seem so egotistic is because they identify so completely with what they do. They do so because it is their standpoint from which they try to navigate through the unsure neurotypical world; It is their security. In this chapter, I introduce the specific spiritual path that I make a practice of, and I talk about how it helped me to break free from the ego identity. I suggest making a practice of meditating in a formal way for the autistic person to not only break from this need but also as a way to see himself in an objective way.
14 - On the Spiritual Path
My life journey is told from the viewpoint of the events which can be classified as “spiritual”, most of which happened from 1996 to the present day. I talk about my training in energy healing, particularly Reiki, and how that impacted my life. I discuss in more detail the process of meditation and what actually happens to the mind and to the whole being as meditation progresses into deeper states. I explain that such a process may actually be accelerated for a person with autism because of how sensitive people with autism are to their environment and inner workings. In this way, people with autism may derive great benefit from formal meditation practice very quickly as long as they stick with it. I talk about how traumas such as memories of bullying and other hardships, habits, and false concepts are revealed and released during meditation because of the subconscious mind letting these things become “known” to the conscious mind. I also talk about the concepts of chi and the energy of “spiritual awakening”.
15 - Transcendental Contemplations
In this most philosophically deep chapter, I discuss more complex concepts such as the process of spiritual enlightenment, more details about the ego, and the deepest state of meditation which is, in effect, the highest state of wakefulness. I discuss the nature of consciousness itself and, in a non-theistic way, God. I talk about how meditation can help one break free from the concept of “living in a bubble”, taking everything so personally, and can help one change his perspective to an objective and enlightened viewpoint. I talk from personal experience how being trained in the higher degree of Reiki healing and persisting in my meditation practices helped me to develop the strength and the capacity to contain the awareness and experience of universal, divine energy which is of utmost importance in order for me to enjoy the successes in life which have yet to be made manifest.
