New Resources for Parents

A friend of mine who helped with publicity for The Gospel-Centered Woman shared with me a few resources for kids, knowing that my son was on the autism spectrum. It’s interesting to have a resource created by those with direct experience geared toward children on the spectrum. The first is a children’s storybook series about a real-life aspie superhero’s quest to be “normal” and a family who wants him to be anything but. This is an interactive APP for iOS (iPhone, iPad), Android (phones/tablets), Kindle Fire, Nook, PC, and Mac by Geek Club Books.

This app has an interactive storybook based on the real JMan, Jonathan Murphy, and his real life adventures growing up on the autism spectrum. Written by his sister, Molly Murphy, and narrated by Jonathan, the story is told by someone who sees his world from a very unique perspective. It promotes self-acceptance, awareness, and understanding for others who are different. It’s geared toward kids ages 5-11. It has some cool features, especially that you can change the superhero, JMan, into super-heroine, Jaycee. There is a secret notebook throughout with age-appropriate information on Aspergers Syndrome, being different, and bullying. There are options to have narration with word highlighting if a child isn’t interested in reading it to themselves. Here’s a link to the website for the app. This seems like a good resource for families with kids on the spectrum.

Another resource I want to share is more general. It’s called The God Puzzle. This is a workbook that is a great resource for teaching our children the overarching story of Scripture. I like the order of the lessons, which you can read through here. My boys and I are finishing up another set of lessons from Scripture, but I plan to dive into this workbook with them once we are done.

For so long in my own life, I thought of the Bible as a disjointed series of moral lessons. I was well into adulthood before I came to personally understand the connected, coherent story of the whole of Scripture. I’m excited about a resource that helps me, much like The Jesus Storybook Bible, give my boys a stronger foundation of understanding Scripture. I think I will benefit personally as well.