This is a really fascinating project, and I hope you guys will take a second to consider giving to this Kickstarter project.
Donovan is an 8 year old boy with Aspergers Syndrome, ADHD, and Bipolar disorder. Star Wars has been an instrumental part of his therapy, dealing with his meltdowns. He refers to it as “The Dark Side” and the Jedi in the movies have taught him how difficult the struggle can be to deal with it.
Dealing with people who don’t understand his affliction had been difficult so, as a form of therapy, him, his mother, and his aids, are writing a book about how Star Wars has been helping him deal with his problems.
From the Kickstarter:
The book is called “Donovan and the Dark Side” because Donovan has used his love for Star Wars as a tool to help him with his disabilities. His Bipolar Disorder gives him sudden bursts of anger that he tries to fight. He learned from “Star Wars” about a Jedi’s need to fight their anger and stay away from “the Dark Side”. Donovan calls the anger within him “the Dark Side” and reminds himself of the Star Wars philosophy as he fights his anger with different techniques he’ll share in the book. One symptom of his Aspergers Syndrome is his difficulty understanding other people’s boundaries, so he tries to imagine himself as an X-Wing and respecting the “force fields” of other spaceships (or people) around him. The book will contain more examples of childlike ways to look at and deal with living with his disabilities.
I got to talk briefly to Joshua Lapin-Bertone, Donovan’s Mentor/Aid/Nanny, about the genesis of the project. “There were a few different factors. When Donovan was first diagnosed with Aspergers (we’ve known about Bipolar Disorder for years) last year his family and I wanted to figure out a way to better help him understand everything. We came up with the idea of doing a book and that evolved into Donovan participating as well. It’s sort of a therapy. The thing about it which appeals greatly to his mother is that it would help other people understand him since he deals with harsh judgement everyday (he was once called an “animal” by a neighbor).”
They want to put this out as an eBook and a printed novel early next year and are looking to put together money to publish it. It’s always great to see Star Wars used in this way and I’m always happy to spread the word for projects like this.
You can go ahead and pledge some money over at their kickstarter.