I looked EVERYWHERE, and I mean EVERYWHERE for good books to explain autism to kids. I bought and discarded so many books as unsuitable it isn't even funny. To make my list books had to be self-esteem affirming - or at least not harmful - as well as accurate, kid friendly, and at least mostly applicable to most children on the spectrum, not just the bio of one specific child. Here's the list I came up with, along with links where you can purchase them. I'm not affiliated with them at all, just someone who was looking to explain autism to kids on the spectrum and their siblings and finally narrowed it down to these five books. Hope it helps!
1. "Autism is...?"
Link: "Autism Is...?"
Target audience: Young child or any child who prefers short picture books. This book is aimed specifically at younger children on the spectrum, but siblings and other young children who want to learn about autism would also benefit.
Description: "Autism is...?" is the story of a grandmother explaining autism to her autistic grandson. I think it talks about autism in a self affirming way, and unlike many other books is also quite general so many children on the spectrum should be able to relate, particularly sensory seekers. Because of these generalizations, and the fact that the author made it with her six year old grandson in mind (which means it has a focus on being fun and general more than explaining diagnostic features), it doesn't do the best job of giving all the details on what autism is. However, for the target audience I don't think that going into the details is necessary. The important thing is to give children a brief, self-esteem enhancing idea of what autism is, and if they have questions they can ask them and you can move into one of the more advanced books when you think they're ready.
2. Ian's Walk
Link: Ian's Walk
Target audience: Siblings of children on the spectrum, although other children seeking to learn about autism would also learn from the book. The autistic child highlighted in the book appears to be non-speaking, or at least doesn't speak during the book, so it might be a particularly good fit for siblings of non-speaking children on the spectrum. There are more words in this book than "Autism Is...?", although it is still most definitely a picture book, so the age level/attention span of the child being read this may need to be a bit higher than "Autism Is...?", though young children would still benefit.
Description: I really loved Ian's Walk. It's actually got a nice story line which I think a lot of siblings can relate to - Ian's big sister starts out a bit annoyed with him, but when Ian gets lost she has to try to see things from his perspective, and appreciates his company more afterwards. I think it's a wonderful book for siblings and it may help them see their autistic brother or sister with more understanding.
3. Can I tell you about autism?
Link: Can I tell you about autism?
Link to Asperger's version: Can I tell you about Asperger Syndrome?
Target audience: The nice thing about this book is that you could adapt it to work for different age ranges/attention spans. There are pictures on every other page, so for shorter attention spans you could just go through and look at the pictures and read the caption underneath. For greater attention spans, you can read the entire story to them (there's a page of text that goes along with each picture), and get a lot more detail and explanation that way. Unfortunately, the pictures aren't in color, so children who need engaging pictures to be interested may not appreciate this book.
Another nice thing about the book is that it's not just for children. The first half of the book is the story where autism is explained for children. The second half of the book is a parent's section with advice about helping children on the spectrum. I thought that was an unexpected bonus!
For children previously diagnosed as having Asperger's Syndrome, or who would still fit that profile even if the name wasn't used, there's a book specific to that which the same authors put out called "Can I tell you about Asperger Syndrome?" which you could use instead, or better yet, in addition to "Can I tell you about autism?" to help children understand the diversity of the spectrum. You can simply preface it by saying Asperger's Syndrome is something people used to call some autistic people, and use that for a bouncing off point to talk about the autism spectrum.
Description: Basically in the book a boy about eight talks about his difficulties with different situations. This book does the best job of describing the details of what it's like to be autistic of any of the books I read, and it explicitly states at the beginning that not everything that Tom (the character) feels is going to apply to all autistic people. I wish it had something positive about being autistic in it - it's not that it's a negative book, but it doesn't do as much to encourage pride in oneself as I think the other books do. For that reason, I'd combine it with Different Like Me, the next book I'm going to highlight.
4. Different Like Me: My Book of Autism Heroes
Link: Different Like Me: My Book of Autism Heroes
Target audience: This is intended for older children on the spectrum, potentially those with longer attention spans, but the same as "Can I tell you about autism?" I think you could adapt it to fit shorter attention spans. The book is broken up with a picture on one page and a story about that famous autistic person on the other. As a result, you could simply read one at a time to break it up for children with shorter attention spans, or you could just go through the book and talk about the pictures.
You can adapt the book to make it fit a variety of needs, and I love that. This book could go as far down as around age seven or eight (if you break it up and the child likes books), and safely as far up as middle school. (Although I'll be honest, I myself enjoyed the read and learned a lot, so it could potentially go up even higher than that.) Though it's made for children on the spectrum, I think siblings and any other children who are interested would definitely benefit.
Description:
So often autistic children can feel alone, like there's no one else like them. All the books help with that to some degree, but this book does the best job. It gives some really great autistic role models for kids to see that not only are they not alone, but there are some pretty cool autistic people out there! I love it, it's absolutely fantastic, and I really think most all kids on the spectrum would benefit from it.
Einstein, Fossey, Warhol, Banneker, Kaufman, Kandinsky, Julia Bowman Robinson, Piet Mondrian, Turing, Sophie Germain, Lewis Carroll, Tesla, Paul Erdos, Glenn Gould, Kant, McClintock, Cornell, Hans Christian Andersen, and Temple Grandin are highlighted within. I love how there are lots of examples, not just of men, but of women as well.
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I'm BAP and a big sister to an Autistic woman. We made some websites to help kids on the spectrum and parents understand autism in a positive way:
http://www.teachmeaboutautism.com/
13 Oct 2014, 3:24 pm
