Eye Can Write: A memoir of a child's silent soul emerging

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He wrote his story using his eyes through a laborious but highly effective system that he learned with the help of his Mum and his carers. He has already had a conversation with a palliative-care specialist about what he wants his end of life to look like. I had a friend many years ago who had severe cerebral palsy and his family had learnt to communicate by asking him questions with yes or no answers – he could tap your hand once for no and twice for yes. Jonathan’s account of Jesus’s garden featured Noah — a little boy who attended the Bryans’ church before dying of a brain tumour.

These two years included his mother’s battle with the local authority to establish that Jonathan was not receiving education at the level he deserved in the school for children with special educational needs and that it was proportionate and appropriate for him to enrol fully in mainstream education. Jonathan survived, and, OK, he is stuck in a body here that doesn’t work very well, but, actually, what has been transformed out of that is something that none of us would have thought of in the early days. I was in a position as a parent where I would have done anything to take the pain away, and yet God the father had let his Son suffer because of his love for us. Written partly by Jonathan’s mother and partly by Jonathan, a 12 year old boy with severe cerebral palsy, this book is a powerful account of the liberation of finding a way to communicate.

Like a bird let out of its cage, the picture that words can generate was free to fly in my reader’s mind and assume a new life of its own. At Bolt Burdon Kemp, we work with a number of the families we represent to set up a tailored care package. Jonathan’s complex health needs mean that he is never alone, and yet he was very alone in his locked-in world that had a window on the outside world, but no way to communicate with that outside world. It reveals a remarkable insight into his life, the journey to find a form of communication that works despite his cerebral palsy, and the truly inspiring campaign to revolutionise the education of children regardless of their disabilities. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.

Mrs Bryan reads from his book proofs: “Imagine the voice used to talk to a baby: high pitched, excitable, slightly louder than usual; mix that with a foreigner who doesn’t understand the language, slowly loud and clear with short sentence and no complicated words you are now close to speaking ‘Special’. Yet parents have also described their battles to secure a place for inclusion, and the latest Ofsted report found that a large proportion lacked confidence in the ability of mainstream schools to meet their children’s needs.When I wrote Michael a fan letter a few years ago, I wasn’t sure I would get a reply, yet alone meet him, thanks to the Make a Wish charity. At a recent UK writing conference (2022), this must have been the most stunning of all the talks and presentations we listened to during the weekend. If I can ever manage to unlock even a hint of what he wants me to know then I am most definitely winning. For Jonathan, the prospect of going to be with Christ is such a strong and real thing it totally informs his attitude to death, and getting ill, and everything.

Jonathan is often referred to as 'Locked-in Boy' Credit: SWNS:South West News Service Who is Jonathan Bryan? Sitting on Mummy’s lap, our bodies remained still as Sarah’s finger danced to the rhythm of my eyes.Following my lead, we slow-waltzed around the board, synchronised to the music of the word in my head. For anybody who knows anyone who is differently abled (surely, that means everyone), this book is a must read. In the days after Jonathan’s birth, and for the first time in her life, Mrs Bryan prayed until she was “spent”, joined by others over the country — strangers, in many instances.

The most poignant thing that I will remember is Jonathan's outlook on special schools, based on his own experience. What an amazing way for her to lean about what disability is like from the inside, and the attitudes towards those with disability and what can be done to help.It’s helped me to get a feel for the long term; that there can be things that God is going to be able to bring out of Jonathan’s accident, and the coping with it that we’ve had. Jonathan has a gift with words to communicate an important message of the importance to teach ALL children regardless of their disability.