Do Butterflies Carry Spare Parts?
Author Sarah Bryce

Do Butterflies Carry Spare Parts? A True Story Of Educational, Medical And Spiritual Miracles Sarah Bryce Word Wright International, 2001 $20.65

Bryce lost her first son, a full-term stillborn baby. But this book is not so much about the first as the second, Malcolm, her miracle son. His conception shouldn’t have happened according to Bryce’s doctors. That he survived pregnancy was a medical miracle. His birth went well until they drugged Bryce against her wishes and whisked Malcolm to the nursery to monitor his Rh levels. Bryce was not allowed to nurse him.

With two other sons and a devoted husband, Bryce’s life seemed to be going well, until she realized that something wasn’t right with Malcolm. At eight-months several things happened at once- he got a severe case of chicken pox, his night screams began, the family moved into a recently exterminted house, and Malcolm developed an intense underarm odor. His development also slowed down.

The story is chronological, as Malcolm gets older, his symptoms worsen. Malcolm never has a clear diagnosis for why his coordination was so poor, his ability to take in sensory input so compromised, his strange odor, and his learning difficulties. But this book is about miracles and Malcolm got another one when his family found a school teaching a method called CCDE, Chronologically Controlled Developmental Education, a program developed by Ed Snapp.

Finally, when Malcolm was fifteen years old and not flourishing in regular special ed programs, Bryce and her family could understand Malcolm. They realized things like his desire to swim in winter lakes was due to the fact hr couldn’t feel the cold. He hated having his hair washed because he couldn’t tell where he was in space. This new program would not only address Malcolm’s physical limitations, it would teach him a new way to learn- ways that worked for him.

For the Bryce family, CCDE was a miracle- his sharp mind found a way to make sense of the world. His improved so much physical, he could play basketball and run up he stairs- things he had never done. His odor finally went away. For the first time in his life Malcolm was learning and maturing normally.

Bryce writes a straightforward story about her experiences raising Malcolm. She relates events in a clear, conversational way. Her writing is average but the story she tells is extraordinary. She makes a good effort to foreshadow some events. Memoirs are difficult to make compelling- the writer already knows what happens so they tend to be accurate without being entertaining. Perhaps trying to relate miracles makes it difficult o find adequate language. One of Bryce’s gifts is that she writes about Malcolm without pity or patronizing him. That is important for all who read their story.

Bryce’s story ends tragically; Malcolm is hit by a train and killed when he is only nineteen years old. In sharing her experience letting go of a son she worked so hard for, Bryce is deeply honest. Thought the book, she is open about her Christian faith and draws on it as she copes with Malcolm’s death. And even in his death, more little miracles appear for Bryce and those around her.

Do Butterflies Carry Spare Parts? is an amazing story, especially for all the other families who have their own Malcolms.

Copyright © 2005 Anna Stewart. All rights reserved worldwide.