Autism and Me: Sibling Stories
Grade 4–6—Using photos of family members and the words of children as young as six, Shapiro shows the ups and downs of life with someone who has autism. The youngsters' voices are honest and realistic: "I was kind of embarrassed." "Sometimes I get ticked when Mary Gwen hits and screams." If anything about Jesse changed, "he wouldn't be Jesse anymore, and I would miss the old Jesse." Some of them sound a bit preachy: "You should respect people with autism for who they are." However, the children's emotions ring true, telling what they love about their sibling; the preaching comes from their hearts. This book would be useful in families and in classrooms to help explain both the struggles and the triumphs of living with someone who has this disorder.—Wendy Smith-D'Arezzo, Loyola College, Baltimore, MDCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.