Can You See Me?: A powerful story of autism, empathy and kindness

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However I think it's equally important for all teachers, support staff and anyone who works with, or knows, an autistic child to read this book. I bought this for my 12 year old autistic daughter so that she could feel like som comradeship, and like she’s not the only one going through some of the things she goes through, but she’s in love with graphic novels right now and there are “too many words and not enough pictures” for her right now. She was trying so hard to explain her thoughts and her behaviors and the way that her autism affected her, and yet I continued to have thoughts of "oh my word, I don't know what I would do if I was the parent in this situation. She is a picky eater, and the spicy pepperoni on pizza makes her tongue feel invaded by an army of red ants.

And if there are people in careers like teaching who get more understanding of Autistic students through media like this that is even better - because you can see that the kindness of a teacher like Mrs Jarman in this novel can be a like a life float in a nightmare environment like school. And yes, the book does tell you what it's like for Tally to live with autism but it didn't persuade me that she is any more important than anyone else because of it. I will never be a normal person, and my brain will always be different from the average, but I am no longer afflicted with such horrible behavioral and mental issues that I wish I could die. As a parent who’s going through some of these experiences (purely as a spectator, which I know is not the same) I found some camaraderie with in the pages, which is what I was hoping for my daughter when I bought it.Rebecca currently teaches in a primary school and lives in Dorset with her husband and three children. And to top it all off, there is essentially no plot other than the day to day struggle of living with autism. Her pairing with Rebecca Westcott, author of Violet Ink and Dandelion Clocks, is inspired and ensures that the tale of autistic child Tally is as eminently readable as it is authentic. The masking she refers to doing at school has been a lifelong struggle and is something I’ve had to push into almost every bubble of my life.

Tally feels sorry for Mrs Jessop’s lonely, three-legged dog that bites and growls at other members of her family. Some of the more embarrassing extracts from her childhood and teenage diaries are used as the diary entries in her debut novel, Dandelion Clocks.I didn't care for the narrative writing style, because it was often detached and dry, and when parts of the book went on and on without advancing the plot or characters significantly, I sometimes skimmed ahead to the next engaging action. Tally faces secondary school with dread about what lies ahead, despite her older sister’s advice and a Year 6 induction experience. But also most kids make stupid decisions at that age and say or do things that make no sense, which is why if we are reading this as adults we need to be more careful about projecting our perspective onto it. There were lots of relatable elements in terms of processing and the internalisation of meltdowns in school (or in my case now at work) that kept me wrapped up in the book and I finished it in a matter of hours. The explanations we do get for Autistic traits were quite shallow and I did have to remind myself constantly throughout this that our narrative perspective is from an 11 year old girl and this was co-authored by someone of a similar age.

I know some people found Tally really frustrating but I think it is so important for Autistic kids to have this representation and be able to see that someone else has experienced what they do.She tells Tally that if she doesn't leave the worm and come right now, she will go ahead without her.