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

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However, the book as a whole wasn't the most engaging--the plot is rather slow for much of it, and the Tally's Autism Facts sections, while informative, are also a bit info-dump-y, and I wasn't ever sure if the story was supposed to take place in the US or UK. Tally knows she’s different: she’s autistic, meaning she sees and feels everything differently to her friends and family. I was very torn on how to rate this because I jumped constantly between being able to relate to the main character and not finding her very sympathetic at all. It features bullying, friendship, fitting in, staying true to yourself and showing that everyone is different in different ways, all of which are topics which affect every child as they move up to secondary school. His autism is hinted at but not referred to directly, and all young readers will empathise with Henry and find reassurance in the book’s ultimate message of hope.

The reader is supposed to believe that the main character, Tally, is a mainstreamed student at a public middle school, but the way her behavior is portrayed, there is no way she would be mainstreamed, and particularly without an IEP and all her teachers knowing what her needs were, which is not the case in this story. Still, despite its stylistic flaws, this book has an encouraging message and provides what appears to be an extremely realistic representation of autism, even though I cannot speak from personal knowledge of it. I was at my last school for 4 years and we had ********* book fairs every term – and every term, I was disappointed by the narrow range of books. It meant so much to me to read about this from another person's perspective, and to see Tally's stress about trying to behave and keep self-control, but getting to points where she literally cannot restrain the explosive behavior that takes over. I am forever grateful that my parents didn't give up and accept my situation the way it was, and put unimaginable amounts of effort into helping my life change.I wanted to see more active representation of Tally’s special interests, her favourite school subject, her hobbies and the things she can do well and bring her joy outside of a context of needing them to recover from meltdowns. Diagnosis (I prefer recognition ;-) ) has been an absolute game-changer for my life, and I wish I had known earlier! I highly recommend this book for autistic youngsters, their family and any one who wants to gain a better understanding of autism. I was terrified that I would never be able to go back to being the happy, comparatively normal child that I had once been, and feared that I was going to stay trapped in an internal volcanic explosion until I died.

With diary entries written by eleven-year-old Libby Scott, based on her own experiences of autism, this pioneering book, written in collaboration with esteemed author Rebecca Westcott, has been widely praised for its realistic portrayal of autism.Tally allows the reader to get a clear insight into the complexities of autism and how it shapes a person and effects those nearest to them. Tally isn't ashamed of being autistic -- even if it complicates life sometimes, it's part of who she is. Her most humiliating memories however, will never see the light of day – unless she runs out of ideas for her next book. Co-author Libby Scott is autistic herself and she is also 11 years old, thus ensuring that the narrative of Can You See Me? While the ending also had a positive message about it being okay to be different - I don’t feel like there was enough resolution of some of the things that happen in the story to justify this message.

this is such a good representation of what it's like to be growing up as an autistic person and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to understand more what it's like to be autistic. I wouldn't have even rated this two stars, if I didn't think it was good to feature diverse characters in children's literature! We sympathise with the misunderstanding of expressions such as ‘in a couple of minutes’, and the complete confusion of lying.Based on my life experience, I have a hard time with the message that someone has to accept everything about their condition as inevitable and unchanging. In another unbelievable scene, the family is having a serious conversation around the dinner table, and Tally interrupts to ask for a drink of juice.

It is really lovely to know that this story is one written from the perspective of real child with autism.I'm looking forward to my daughter learning to read better as I will be saving this for her and I think she will really enjoy this and can relate so much. I am not autistic, and I had the very great blessing of being homeschooled, which I appreciated even more after reading this book. Some of the more embarrassing extracts from her childhood and teenage diaries are used as the diary entries in her debut novel, Dandelion Clocks. It’s extremely important these MG books are available for kids to read and gain an understanding about people that may be around them and how they may/may not think/feel/act differently - and that’s ok! But as Tally hides her true self, she starts to wonder what "normal" means after all and whether fitting in is really what matters most.