I read this last night.
“With the Light… Vol. 1: Raising an Autistic Child (With the Light…)” (Keiko Tobe)
It was something I saw and thought might be interesting. We have an autism inclusion program and I know one of the kids in it.
It was really insightful and poignant. There are some subjects that can be well-served by an illustrated text, and I think this was one of them. Partly to make it accessible — the story can be followed by readers of varying proficiency — but in large part because the main character, Hiraku, is very visual. The best way to communicate with him turns out to be pictures (it’s a huge plug for Polaroid, as their instant film technology is how they create lifelike pictures that work as communication tokens).
The best part of it for me was the examples of the kids teaching the adults, and not always autistic kids: there is always an aspect of that, as each instance of autism is unique. But the normally-developing kids also learn from each other and from themselves and the adults learn from them. If you’re at all prone to poignant messages making you a tad blinky, be warned.
There are also some real-world tips interspersed in the book that can be used to work with and help autistic kids. When you consider that there are as many as 1-2 in 1,000, chances are good you’ll have the opportunity to know someone with autism.