Daniel Bowman Jr.

Novelist / Poet / Professor

ON THE SPECTRUM

Autism, Faith, and the Gifts of Neurodiversity

Nearly everyone knows someone on the autism spectrum, whether it’s a niece or nephew, a student in their classroom, a coworker, or a sibling, spouse, or child. About 1 in 45 people are autistic, according to the CDC, and autism is reported across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. Yet much of what people think they know about autism is wrong.

On the Spectrum debunks myths with a realistic yet hope-filled deep dive into the heart, mind, and life of an autistic Christian. Daniel Bowman Jr., a novelist, poet, and professor, received an autism diagnosis at age thirty-five after experiencing crises in his personal and professional life. The diagnosis shed light on his experience in a new, life-giving way. In this captivating book, Bowman reveals new insights into autism, relationships, faith, and the gift of neurodiversity.

Rather than viewing autism as a deficiency, Bowman teaches readers—through stories of his heartbreaks and triumphs—authentic ways to love their neighbors as themselves, including their autistic neighbors who are fearfully and wonderfully, if differently, made.

Download the Discussion Guide here.

ENDORSEMENTS

“On the Spectrum rings with poetry, compassion, and wisdom, and it reveals so much about autistic experience. I felt nourished by the truths that Daniel Bowman tells and relieved to see them shared. This book may surprise you, and it will certainly inform you.”
Katherine May
Author of Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
“What a gift! Moving from mere acceptance to unabashed celebration of neurodiversity is a long-overdue and necessary shift; truly, I believe this is an invitation from the Holy Spirit. I am so grateful to Daniel Bowman Jr. for searingly and beautifully sharing his own fearfully-and-wonderfully-made story and inviting all of us to a more full, more diverse, more compelling vision of the kingdom of God.”
Sarah Bessey
Author of A Rhythm of Prayer and Jesus Feminist
“Dan Bowman’s memoir is a wise pathway to loving our neighbors in a neurodivergent world, one where ‘those of us on the spectrum will always deal with loneliness and alienation.’ Using the metaphor of a plum tree growing in an inhospitable environment, and with a poet’s eye for detail, Bowman engages different modes of interacting with the world and its multifarious senses. A sense of vigilance pervades the quiet universe of language unfolding in his soul, whether in church, outdoors in a field, or within a community of artists. Bowman reminds us of the role of poetry and faith in guiding us toward God and, ultimately, in honoring the dignity of our shared humanity.”
Karen An-hwei Lee
Author of The Maze of Transparencies and Phyla of Joy
“This is an illuminating, challenging, and deeply human book that we all need to read in order to truly embody solidarity with one another. We need to read stories of neurodiversity from those who embody those stories best, and Bowman’s book is a great place to start the journey.”
Kaitlin B. Curtice
Author of Native
“I can only imagine how many people will read Daniel Bowman’s moving memoir and feel like someone finally sees them. His generous, vulnerable prose will surely make those on the spectrum feel less alone in the world. But for neurotypical readers like me, Bowman invites us to see our neighbors afresh, calling us to remake our worlds to welcome the art and creativity of those with autism. This book itself is one of the gifts of neurodivergence, adding to this teeming, diverse creation in which God takes delight.”
James K. A. Smith
Professor, Calvin University
Editor in chief of Image; author of You Are What You Love and On the Road with Saint Augustine
“With the gift of his experience as an autistic adult in the church, Dan Bowman’s exquisite vulnerability lights the path toward greater understanding, better advocacy, and a compelling vision for inclusion that moves beyond stereotypes and tokenism. As a spiritual director, a mother to an autistic child, and a Jesus follower, I have been waiting for a book like On the Spectrum. This is the book the church has desperately needed. I want to give this book to everyone I know.”
Nish Weiseth
Founder and spiritual director, Formation Northwest
“Dan Bowman invites readers into another way of looking at the world, literature, and faith, through his artful and thoughtful eyes. It’s both a gift and an indictment of our world to experience how autistic people navigate a society, including the church, that is not set up for them to thrive. I hope everyone reads this book and the many others that are sure to come.”
D. L. Mayfield
Author of The Myth of the American Dream: Reflections on Affluence, Autonomy, Safety, and Power
“In his remarkable meditations on autistic life, Bowman creates a living map to orient newcomers to our neurodiverse world. I cannot imagine a better guide than his generously empathic and richly detailed writing. On the Spectrum is essential reading, perhaps especially for well-meaning Christians whose limited conception of the imago Dei has failed to recognize the divine hand in neurodiversity.”
Amy Sullivan
Religion journalist; author of The Party Faithful
“A deft and poetic affirmation of faith, Daniel Bowman’s new book is able to ‘honor autistic lives—breathed by the very breath of God—that often feel fragile in the exacting landscape of an allistic world.’ Bowman accomplishes this through a pondering of self: a journey through his life, his connection to story, and his search for transcendence. In mining his own experiences, Bowman creates a kenotic text: a book that shows us how to respect ‘one’s personhood, to listen, to default to humility and kindness.”
Nick Ripatrazone
Author of Wild Belief; culture editor for Image Journal
“June Jordan tells us that practicing poetry means taking control of the language of your life. With On the Spectrum, Dan Bowman exemplifies what taking up this task looks and feels like while also inviting us to bear witness, alongside him, to the minute particulars of being human. By picking up what he’s setting down, we’re enjoined in the work of dwelling more knowingly in our own existence. Receive his voice.”
David Dark
Author of Life’s Too Short to Pretend You’re Not Religious
“In On the Spectrum, Daniel Bowman tells his own story with conviction—in both senses of that word: he is convicted of the importance of telling his own story himself; and he invites neurotypical readers to be convicted—namely, to center autistic artists in the telling of their own stories. Combining narrative, poetry, found material, letters, analysis, and interviews, this book compels its readers into a story of art, a story of faith, and a story of a life. Read and believe and act and change, Bowman invites, not because his is the only word but because reading and believing and acting and changing is the only way our world can be made safer.”
Pádraig Ó Tuama
Author of In the Shelter
“In fresh, clear, and crisp prose, Daniel Bowman Jr. takes us on a journey—his life is a living map—a revelation of the deepest essence of his being as an autistic person. Not only did his narratives educate me further about neurodiversity, they compelled me to pause in awe and wonder, in contemplation, as I considered the spectrum of beauty and wisdom contained within these pages. On the Spectrum nourished and nurtured me—and prompted me to take ‘stock of reality.’ Bowman deftly demonstrates that each of us has a place in this neurodiverse world. What is most delightful and ingenious, I think, is how Bowman reteaches us our own loveliness (à la Galway Kinnell) even as he is retaught and embraces his own. This book is a great gift.”
Marlena Graves
Author of The Way Up Is Down: Becoming Yourself by Forgetting Yourself