The spark: the story of a mother with upbringing, genius, and autism - Christine Barnett

The spark, a story of a mother with education and genius, and autism. My name is Christine Barnett, and after my son Jake, a miracle in mathematics and science, started taking university-level courses in mathematics, astronomy, and physics at the age of eight, he was accepted into university at nine. Soon after, he began working on a unique theory in the field of relativity. The equations he was working on were very long, even extending beyond the giant blackboard to the windows of our house. I was not sure of the best way to help Jake, so I asked if anyone was willing to review his work. I contacted a famous physicist on Jake’s behalf, and he generously agreed to review Jake’s work periodically, confirming that Jake was indeed working on a unique theory, and if proven correct, it would place him on the list of Nobel Prize winners. One summer, when Jake was twelve, the university appointed him a paid researcher in physics. It was his first summer job. By the third week of his job, Jake had solved a problem related to the theory of mathematical networks, a work he later published in a high-level scientific journal. A few months ago, in the spring of that year, he published a small article in a local newspaper about a small charity I founded with my husband Michael. Unexpectedly, that article led people to learn about Jake’s story through a larger newspaper, until filming crews camped in our garden. Our phone kept ringing with calls from filmmakers, talk shows, national news programs, talent agencies, publishers, prestigious universities, as well as reporters and producers desperately trying to interview Jake.