3 stars
| A good picture book for learning about some of the common-ish characteristics of autism spectrum disorders. As the book mentions, “Once you’ve met one autistic child, you have met ONE autistic child.” I have been working with children on the spectrum for the past six years and have never met two children who have the same combination of strengths and deficits or the same needs. Just like all children, children on the spectrum are all unique from one another, an important thing to keep in mine since it’s easy to want to characterize one thing as “true autism.” Because of this, it’s difficult to characterize behaviors and ways of thinking. This book goes through some of the main traits associated with autism such as hand flapping, difficulty reading emotions and respecting person space, sensitivity to sounds, fixation on certain objects, and difficulty learning through imitation. The thing I really liked about this book was that it focuses on how Zak’s autism acted as a “gift” for others, teaching them such lessons as acceptance, tolerance, patience, and that fair doesn’t mean equal. Nowadays, it’s pretty common to refer to autism’s “gifts” but I like that this book goes into detail about how interacting with Zak influenced the lives of those around him and made them better people. I do think this book was a bit lengthy. There is so much information about autism spectrum disorders, which is great, but I think it may be difficult to read with some children. The information given is good, but could have been condensed. Likewise, the pictures are very busy, making it kind of hard to focus, which may be an issue for some children as well. At the end of the book is a section of tips for understanding children on the spectrum, which I think is very helpful for parents who have children on the spectrum as well as those who have children who are neurotypical. I think some of the tips were very helpful, such as framing lessons around whatever the child is interested (i.e. teaching turn taking using cars stopped at stop signs). A good book about how those on the spectrum are uniquely wired, which poses some difficulties, but also comes with an array of gifts. For adults interested in learning more about autism spectrum disorders, I highly recommend Ellen Notbohm‘s Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew and Temple Grandin‘s Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism. Goodreads |