Awareness and Aid

Last month the Book List was for Autism Acceptance and I wish this event was happening then.  On May 12 at 7:30 pm Wretches and Jabbers will be shown in 100 cities across the United States.  The movie is about two men with autism, who were excluded from public schools as children, who travel the world and meet other people with Autism Spectrum Disorder.  Here's the web page with city listings.

The PepsiRefresh Project gave a grant to a gentleman who is using it to provide books to public schools in Chicago.  People can vote for the PepsiRefresh Projects they like and the more votes the projects get the larger their grant funding.  You can vote for this project here.

A friend of mine, Elizabeth Handel, runs a literacy program for inmates and their children in Massachusetts.  It's called A Book from Mom/ABook from Dad and was started in 2004.  They take donations of used books to prisions for parents to give to their children when they visit.  If parents can't meet with their children some prisions allow them to record themselves reading the book and then send the book and recording to their child.  It's very local with Handel sorting and delivering most of the books herself, some information about the program is available here.  Sadly A Book from Mom/A Book from Dad is not set up for internet donations.  But if you're in MA look out for bookstores and schools who work with this organization and donate through them

Book List - Autism Acceptance Month

For insight into why I use the term Autism Acceptance instead of the more popular Aurism Awareness see my previous post.  In a similar vein, the books on this month's list are not necesarilly about promoting awareness of Autism Spectrum Conditions or helping children understand people with Autism Spectrum, though any book with well developed characters that have Autism should naturally do this.  Which is what these books do have, characters with Autism Spectrum.  Some of these characters are the narrators some are not, but I wanted to find books were the characters with Autism Spectrum were active, where they were more then learning experiences for others.  I haven't read every book on this list, so if I fail in my goals then I apologize.

P-K - Kindergarten
Jeffery and the Despondent Dragon by John Sprecher (The author wrote this book for his son who has Autism)

1st - 2nd Grade

Troy’s Amazing Universe by Sharon Kennedy Tosten (A series of four books where the narrator, 7 year old Troy has some incredible adventures.  Tosten wrote these books for and about her son Troy, who has Autism)

3rd - 5th Grade

Rescued by a Cow and a Squeeze: Temple Grandin by Mary W. Carpenter (A book about Temple Grandin and how she used her Autism to revolutionize the farming/meat industry)

Young Adult

Wright & Wong Mysteries by Laura Burns & Melinda Metz  (A series about 7^th grade detectives.  One of the main characters has Asperger's.  Is appropriate for younger children.)

Curious Incident of the Dog and the Night Time by Mark Haddon (This book approaches the adult edge of YA fiction.  It is very emotionally heavy. While never explicitly stated the 15 year old narrator/detective Christopher is generally considered to have Autism Spectrum Conditions)

The Boy Who Ate Stars by Kochka (12 year old Lucy moves to France and meets Matthew, a four year old with Autism, his mother and silent nanny.  These three people change Lucy’s life.)

Out to Get Jack by James M. Williams (11 year old Jack is always blamed for other people's misbehavior, just becuase he has Autism.  Jack decides to take matters into his own hands and becomes a detective.  The author has autism and wrote this book when he was 13 years old)

Autism Acceptance

Technically April is the month of Autism Awareness, but there are problems with only striving for awareness.  Also, a recent post on Shakesville pointed out some problems with the Autism Awareness Community and how their events aren't always very accepting of people with Autism Spectrum Conditions.

I use the term Autism Spectrum Conditions over the other options for two reasons.  First, it is a spectrum that includes Asperger's, high or low functioning versions, and the exact definitions and classifications keep changing as doctors/psychologists learn more about the brain and Autism Spectrum.  Secondly, I use the term conditions because I also am neurologically atypical and I hate when my ADD or LDs are referred to as a disease or disability.  My brain, and the brains of people with Autism Spectrum do not always function in a "typical" manner.  This manifests itself in various conditions like disgraphia, sensitivity to loud noises, difficulty in reading facial expressions, shortened attention spans, inability to stand certain textures or sensations, hyperfocusing and various and myriad other ones.  But it does not automatically mean I or others who are neurologically atypical are sick or in need of a cure.  Certainly some people feel this way, but not all of us do, so I'm against anything being considered a disease or disability and therefore something bad and in need of curing when people with the actual condition disagree with the definition.

This is not to say that people with Autism Spectrum Conditions don't face difficulties in life that are unique to their situations.  However, many of these difficulties come not just from the conditions of being neurologically atypical, but how the priviledged majority in society treat people with Autism Spectrum.  For more on the priviledge of being Nueologically Typical in regards to Autism Spectrum see this list.

Originally this post was meant to be a book list, but it turns out I had more to write about Autism Acceptance than I thought.