Literature featuring Autism

Over all, it was easy to find books that featured children with autism. I was overwhelmed by the fact that most of the books were told from an outsiders point of view. By saying that, I mean that most books were told by a parent, or a sibling, or a classmate. I was lucky to find one book that was told from the view point of a child with autism. Granted, the author does not have autism, but she does have two children with special needs. I really would have liked to have read a book written by a person with autism about being a person with autism, how it has effected their lives, etc. I found such a book when I was looking for my professional resource. THe author had been 13 when he wrote it. I wish I could have documented what his name/the name of the book that he wrote was, but unfortunately I forgot to! But, I feel that it would have been a valuable experience to compare the text to the literature that I came across.

I found it valuable to have all the different perspective in the books, but at the same time it brings about the insider outsider debate. Who has a right to write about this population? Those who have interactions with people who have autism? Those who have autism? I really wish that I had looked more into finding literature from an author with autism to compare it to the books I have reviewed. Also, I was surprised by the range of authors I had in my literature. One was a school teacher from the UK, one was a parent with children who have disabilities (although they were never identified), and one who just felt like writing.

Over all, I have learned from this experience with this category of books that there are a range of authors who have had books published. Some of the books give awesome insight into the world of autism, letting the reader see first hand some of the issues. But, in the same sense, some of the readings I have come across are dated and could lead to too many generalizations associated with this disability (i.e. mostly male Caucasian characters, told from others view points instead of individuals, focus on interactions at school more then at home, etc). So, I feel over all the one thing that I have learned is to really understand who your author is. I say this because they might have some connection (as an insider, as a parent, as an educator, etc)that justifies why they wrote their book or they could just be interested in the area. By doing this, it changes the way you look at the literature as a whole, and it also helps determine what to take away from the text. Over all, I feel that this can and should be applied to all areas of literature. It is important to embrace the diveristy that can come about not only in the text, but from those who have a passion about the unique world and workings of autism.