Book Review- Rules

Lord, Cynthia. “Rules.” New York: Scholastic Press, 2006.

Rules is a contemporary realistic fiction novel for young adults that walks through the life of Catherine, a twelve year old girl dealing with the ups and downs of living with her brother, David who has autism. Getting through to David has not always been easy, so Catherine takes it upon herself to create rules for David to try to eliminate as many embarrassing moments (for herself more than anything) as possible. For instance, “do not chew with your mouth open”, “sometimes people are laughing at you and other times with you”, and “when in public keep your pants on”. The book takes an interesting twist however when Catherine is forced to spend her entire summer attending David’s weekly physical therapy sessions. Here she meets Jason, a young boy whose disability is not referenced, but who must use a wheelchair and is unable to speak and therefore must communicate through a communication board. The two become good friends and in the end are faced with dealing with the reactions that people outside of the clinic have when they see the two together.

The story conveys messages of acceptance towards children with disabilities. In my opinion it was very important for the book to come from Catherine’s point of view because it shows how a disability affects an entire family unit, not simply the person with the disability. Catherine’s family needed her to be responsible for David at an early age and in doing so she learned compassion for all people. An element that I appreciated from the story is that there was a great deal of focus on the frustration that accompanies people’s negative reactions towards David and Catherine and Jason’s developing friendship and not so much frustration with David and Jason due to their disabilities.

This book was written by Cynthia Lord, who has first hand experience dealing with issues surrounding autism as she is a mother of a young son who has autism. She says, “I wrote Rules to explore some of my own questions about living with someone who sees the world so differently than I do, but also to show a full experience of family life with a child with autism: the happy moments, the heartbreaking ones, the ones that make me laugh” (back cover jacket). I would definitely recommend this book to other and it definitely has its place within my library.

Book Review: My Friend with Autism

Bishop, Beverly. My Friend with Autism. Arlington, Texas: Future Horizons Inc., 2002.

The book My Friend with Autism was designed for anyone who is “being introduced to autism.” The pages of the book are black and white with simple texts that describe a boy and his strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes. The story follows a boy and his friend with autism as they engage in different activities at school and home with other children. They used scooters to get to school and played football on the playground.

The book describes many similarities between children and children with autism spectrum disorder. The book also describes ways that people without autism can assist and help friends with autism. There is an appendix in the back of the book that the author says is intended to give adults involved in the life of a person with autism, enough understanding to guide typical children “into meaningful relationships with an autistic child.” This guide breaks down page-by-page the many different things discussed in the book, like enhanced vision, taste, touch, hearing smell, as well as pretending, intelligence, sharing, change, feelings, etc.

The author, Beverly Bishop, wrote the book to help her son, who is special needs, fit in with his peers and build understanding among her son’s classmates, teachers, and friends. Because she has a son with autism, she is considered an insider to this group of people with disabilities. While she doesn’t have autism, she lives with the daily trials and tribulations of the disability.

This book is a piece of diverse literature because it describes in a positive way the life of a person with autism. The book points out many similarities between children and children with autism. It also incorporates ways people who have friends with disabilities can include them in social situations and help them when and if needed. In the back of the book, there is a guide that describes why a friend with autism would have “special skills” like oversensitive hearing or taste as well as the problem people with autism have with certain social skills like sharing, pretending, and talking. The pages of the book are also black and white because the author wanted to allow for readers to color their own pictures. This is unique in that there is no race depicted in the book, making it devoid of racial stereotypes of people with autism.

Looking After Louis Book Review

Ely, Louis. Looking After Louis. Morton Grove: Albert Whitman & Company, 2004.Looking After Louis is a story about a boy names Louis who has autism. A young girl in his class talks to him, but Louis just responds by repeating what she says. When they go outside for recess, some of the students ask Louis if he wants to play, but he just repeats what they say or does not move. One day at recess Louis runs out onto the field where the other boys are playing soccer and started chasing a boy, Sam, playfully around the field. Later that day Louis drew a picture of him playing soccer, so the teacher let him and Sam go play soccer outside. The young girl asks why Louis is allowed to go outside and play during school time, and she learns that you're "allowed to break the rules for special people."

I liked this story and the fact that it promoted the idea of accepting and understanding the differences within people. The little girl learns why Louis is allowed to go outside, and more importantly, understands it. Sam also accepts Louis and lets him play in their soccer game. I think that it shows that you should accept people for who they are and that, when given the chance, they can surprise you. I also like how the author incorporates different aspects of autism into the story. Someone who reads this story can begin to understand some of the characteristics of autism, and some of their tendencies as individuals. It also shows how Louis is in his own world at times, which is something that autistic kids tend to do. The one thing that bothered me, and I actually had to read the story very slowly and carefully to make sure, is that it does not mention that Louis has autism. I feel like that for someone, like the little girl in the story, to truly understand what is going on, they need to know what the disability is. At the end of the story, there is a section explaining that Louis has autism, and it also talks about what it is. However, I would have liked to see some of this information in the actual story.

Looking After Louis

Ely, Lesley. Looking After Louis. First. London, England:
Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2004.

Placed in a elementary school class, Looking After Louis follows a classmate of an autistic child as they interact with in the class. Louis is a student with autism, who is continually doing activities, as well as expressing behaviors in class that are very different from the other classmates. It is his desire to play soccer at recess that comes as a welcomed surprise to his teachers, as well as a learning experience for the narrator of the story.

Over all, I feel this is a really good resource to use in a classroom, especially one in which their may be a child with autism. Not only does it shed an encouraging light on inclusion in classrooms, but is also features a message for all readers. Also, a psychologist wrote a short section at the end of the book which includes information specifically about autism,along with specific characteristics, and an explanation for Louis's placement in a general education room. There are also suggestions for teachers with a student with autism in their classroom at the conclusion of the book. Another wonderful aspect of the book is that the setting is at a school, but because of how the illustrations are matched with the literature, the setting is less likely to be dated any time soon, so it could be used for years to come. Furthermore, according to the author's biography in the beginning of the book, the characters in the book are based off of students that she had in the past (as she was an English teacher) which makes a lot of sense when considering the placement of the story.

So many parents are concerned with the education of their student, let alone a students with autism. Finding the appropriate resources for their families, as well as making sure the child reaches all potential academically and otherwise is very important. Therefore, when going through the articles on the Autism Today website, I found the information in "Combating Autism" very interesting and helpful in developing my respect for families, as well as for teachers who are working to provide as much help as possible for this growing disability. This relates and compliments the comments at the be back of the book, which focused on helping parents, teachers, as well as other students understand and deal with autism.

Autism Insurance in Michigan (AIM)

Hi,

I have worked with some children with autism and have seen many families who don't get insurance covered for diagnosis and treatments for those on the Autism Spectrum. There is a hearing on December 13 at 9am in front of the Health Policy Committee at the Capitol to get the bills about the insurance coverage for families passed. You can find more information on their website: http://autisminsurancemichigan.blogspot.com/.

On this website there's an email address that you can send a letter about your experiences with families who have children with autism and let them know how a lack of access to Autism Services has impacted these families. This website also provides the address, time, and more information about the bill.

Please attend this hearing on the December 13, 2007 to support these families and to get the bills passed!! We need as much support as possible!

Thanks for reading.

Melanie

Looking After Louis

Ely, Lesley. Looking After Louis. Illinois: Albert Whitman & Co., 2004.

Looking After Louis is a story of a young boy with autism who is included in a regular classroom. Louis doesn’t say much in class, other than repeating what his teacher or fellow classmates say, and he is left to his own devices being very detached from the classroom. Louis never participates in activities at recess until one day he brings his new soccer ball to school and discovers he has “magic feet.” Louis’s new interest in soccer sparks a friendship with a classmate, Sam, who later helps Louis create his own version of the game. Louis and Sam are later allowed to play Louis’s new game at a time when it is not recess, but when the injustices of the situation are pointed out by the class, the teacher makes it understood that “we’re allowed to break rules for special people.”

Ely does a good job illustrating how a child with autism in a mainstream classroom might act and appear to regular students through the text she uses in her book Looking After Louis. Although it is never mentioned that Louis has autism until the back page of the book, it is something the class seems to know and accept without explanation. The situations throughout the story create an atmosphere of tolerance as not only the teacher, but the students as well, encourage Louis to participate in activities inside and outside of the classroom. The overall acceptance of autism in mainstream classrooms portrayed in this book is a great example for teachers and students everywhere and this text should be incorporated into early elementary classrooms.

Autism Books as a Set

Reflecting on the three books I chose, I think they bring up different issues and situations of children with autism. I found it interesting, however, Looking after Louis and Andy and His Yellow Frisbee had notes about autism in the back of the book, and Ian's Walk: A Story about Autism had a reference note at the very beginning of the book. The notes in the back for Looking after Louis mentioned mainstreaming children with disabilities into the classroom, and Andy and His Yellow Frisbee discussed the symptoms of autism and Ian's Walk discussed the the importance that families play (particularly siblings) and the challenges that family members face. Both Looking after Louis and Ian's Walk had professionals write about the note on autism, whereas in Andy and His Yellow Frisbee it was written by the author.

While searching for books on autism, it was difficult to find many picture books on this topic. There were several novels written for adolescents, yet when looking for picture books at the library, there wasn't much of a selection. I understand that this is a difficult topic to discuss and explain, yet with these three books together, I feel it will help students grasp the understanding better and get an accurate representation of autism. Even though Looking after Louis isn't as highly recommended by me as the other two, it still can add to the classroom library and help children understand about acceptance. The teacher will just have to be careful as to how they use and read that book.

I also noticed that within all three books, the person who was autistic was a boy and drawn as if they were "normal." It's good that they were all drawn similar to other children because they don't have physical characteristics that make them autistic. It's also interesting that these characters were all boys, yet it could be because autism is found more with boys than girls.

Overall, I would recommend this text set because it brings up various topics and from different perspectives of people. Although not included in the text set, I also highly recommend the book, Souls: Beneath and Beyond Autism by, Sharon Rosenbloom. It gives a beautiful and powerful insight into the lives of those who are related or have interacted with children with autism. It's mainly from a parent's perspective, yet adds to having another view point on the topic, in which other adults and parents can relate to.

Here's the website to view Dolly Gray Awards given to different books about children's literature in developmental disabilities:

http://www.dddcec.org/secondarypages/dollygray/Dolly_Gray_Children

Book Review on "Andy and His Yellow Frisbee"

Thompson, Mary. Andy and His Yellow Frisbee. Bethesda: Woodbine House, 1996.

This book is about a boy with autism, Andy. A new girl at school, Sarah, is very interested in Andy and how he spins his yellow Frisbee "around and around and around" and seems to be in "his own world" (Thompson). When she tries to confront him, Andy's protective sister, Rosie, becomes worried that Andy will be upset with Sarah trying to interact with him. It turns out that Sarah brings her own Frisbee to let Andy spin. Although he doesn't spin it, Rosie is surprised that he allowed Sarah to be so close to him.

In this book, it was helpful that Thompson mentioned near the beginning of the book that Andy has autism. It allows children who read this book to see how some children with autism can act, and that some of these children repeat actions over and over again (such as spinning a Frisbee). What I appreciated about this book was that it gave an insight into Andy's world and why he may act to specific things and people. It also showed Andy having the capability of having different emotions. Although not all children with autism can express their feelings verbally, Andy can express them through actions, such as screaming when upset or uncomfortable.

Thompson was the author and illustrator for this book. The illustrations show that Andy doesn't look any different from other children, and it even says that in the story. The pictures do a good job of showing the emotions of others, as well as how Andy really does seem to be "in his own world" and not interacting with anyone. The story definitely focuses on Andy and how it shows he's autistic. There's an end note at the back of the book describing what autism is and some symptoms of it. It's also mentioned how Thompson has four children and one who has disabilities, yet it doesn't specify if her child is autistic. Overall, I would recommend this book for a classroom because it allows students to better understand what this disability is and how they may act within certain situations. It also allows the students to see how they can also try and interact with them by being very patient, like how Sarah was with Andy. Lastly, it allows students to see how a sibling may feel and what they may do when having a younger or older brother/sister who's autistic.