Intimate portraits of neurodivergence.

Poet and educator Martin draws on more than 20 years of experience with autistic students to offer insights about how best to teach, inspire, and learn from them. Although he describes himself as “a White male who can selectively pass as cis, straight, able, and neurotypical,” in high school, Martin was diagnosed with ADHD, a neurodivergence he shares with his mother. “I have come to foreground neurodivergence in my way of moving through the world,” he writes. The reality of neurodivergence, he has found, contrasts with some commonly held assumptions: for example, that individuals with autism lack empathy or “theory of mind,” the ability to imagine what someone else is thinking or feeling. They “don’t just experience empathy on levels equal to their neurotypical peers,” writes Martin, “but in many cases exceed them.” The author’s approach to teaching is far different from the widely used applied behavior analysis therapy, which involves rewards and punishments for learning certain activities and behaviors. One student, who began ABA therapy at the age of 20 months, by age 3 “appeared to have settled into a form of deep interiority” that lasted for 17 years. Martin’s appreciative portraits of his students—and his close readings of their poems—provide ample evidence of how poetry writing spoke to their needs, abilities, and desires. “Over time,” he writes, “I began to discern how poetry’s patterned structure uniquely serves neurodivergent thinking—and vice versa—something I’d discovered in my own creative investigations.” Poetry’s formalized repetition and sensory detail offered autistic students a fertile linguistic outlet. Martin’s message is not only about unleashing the potential of autistic individuals, but about creating a world where “different modes of movement, of communication, of being and signing and pointing and singing and ticcing and typing” affords all people a new vision “of what it means to be human.”

A sensitive celebration of neuroscientific difference.

In Martin’s collection of science-fiction stories, Lt. Jana Maines steers merchant ships of the Space Trading Commission through the fourth dimension, known as n-Space.

When Maines spots a three centuries’ old derelict—a forgotten spaceship—in deep space, she convinces her captain to give approval for an exploration mission. Good looks aside, Maines’ charisma and unyielding fortitude are a byproduct of her desire to financially assist her family on the farming planet of Ceres. In most cases, Maines’ obdurate nature lands her in precarious situations, but her self-confidence never wavers. A strong-willed female protagonist coupled with a realistic, developed portrayal of the fourth dimension is one of Martin’s strengths, and his intriguing storyline, illustrations and innate ability to make foreign objects and places seem familiar accentuate the quality of his work. Integrating short stories, poetry and songs into Maines’ odyssey, Martin provides insight into the lieutenant’s purpose behind each mission, her life on Ceres with her family and her domineering father. Though a work of science fiction, Martin’s focus transcends spaceships and deep-space transports; he explores the relationship between the lieutenant and her daunting, sometimes overbearing captains (who bear a strong resemblance to Maines’ father), religious philosophy on the planet of Tachon and a light romance on Oceanus. However, Maines’ attachment to her family and the pangs of loneliness permeate every story. Whether Maines is standing beside a dying woman on an ancient derelict in deep space, battling with a prophet who claims himself as God or trying to save millions of fish eggs crucial for the survival of a planet, Martin connects her exploits to her family. Amid the various side stories, readers may find it easy to skim over Martin’s invented words and numerous technical and physics references to explain n-Space. To compensate, the author includes an in-depth glossary and notes at the end to enhance understanding of n-Space. While Maines’ internal dialogue becomes excessive at points, this is a minor point considering the myriad positives the book offers.

Martin’s varied literary structure and assimilation of human emotions, fused with a fast-paced, imaginative storyline and realistic science fiction will leave audiences marveling over Maines’ adventures in n-Space.