Through the Wormhole (Life in Hyperspace #2)
Chris Solaas
Published August 28, 2023
Amazon | Goodreads
About Through the Wormhole: Humor, Hope, and Help from One Family with Autism to Another
The call for help seemed to come from the wall, and I knew there wasn’t a secret room there. That’s when I spied two bare feet sticking out of a hole in the wall. Holes in the wall. Setting fires in the house. Secret rooms and monsters in the closets. My wife and I never thought we’d have adventures like these raising our kids. After dealing with ADHD and its issues, we didn’t think autism would be anything we couldn’t handle. Boy were we wrong.
From our family to yours, here are humorous stories from our crazy past, mixed with ideas for handling some of the issues facing a family raising kids with autism. Inside you will find ideas for stimming aids, dietary help, and even links to companies who hire adults with autism. Humor, Hope, and Help for families like yours traveling Through the Wormhole.
My Review
This is the second nonfiction parenting support book that I’ve read by this author. One of the things I really appreciate about his books is his frank humility. It would be so easy to only report the parenting successes and goofball behavior that the kids get into, and instead, he often apologetically shares experiences where he wishes he’d responded differently. There’s something genuinely comforting about someone keeping it real like that– because we’ve all been the parent who lost their temper or said something sarcastic or overlooked something that turned out to be a safety issue.
The book alternates between sharing adventures in parenting a kid on the Autism spectrum and sharing tips and helpful resources, often with hyperlinks. He also shares things about his experience in the Christian church and community that may help parents navigate what isn’t always a neurodiverse kid-friendly atmosphere. Which, again, is the kind of gentle frankness that I really appreciate.
His parenting adventures are also really well-told. I got teary as he talked about saying goodbye to the family dog and laughed aloud at some of the unexpected conclusions his son drew about different situations.
The author’s hard-won parenting wisdom and encouragement to readers to pursue faith, self-education, and compassion for themselves and their kids make this a nice resource for Christian parents with a child on the Autism spectrum or anyone who wants to be better informed about supporting a family with neurodiverse kids.
I hope that parents who read this find it to be a welcoming, compassionate, and encouraging resource. I’ve also reviewed his other parenting book, which discusses his experiences discovering that he has ADHD and how he navigated parenting a child with the diagnosis.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 16 up.
Representation
The author describes himself as having ADHD with a touch of OCD. At least one of his children has Autism Spectrum Disorder. The author uses the term Aspergers or “Aspy” several times in the text, which may bother some readers. I’m not experienced enough to evaluate the representation in the book.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content
None.
Spiritual Content
References to prayer, attending church, and other Christian spiritual practices and beliefs.
Violent Content
Some descriptions of mildly dangerous things, such as getting stuck on a roof or cleaning out the garage to get rid of spiders.
Drug Content
None.
Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.