Exploring Being Autistic Through Books Part 4

 

This month in honor on Autism Acceptance Month I read various autistic books

While this is not the end of my reading on the topic by a long shot 

This will be my last weekly post

May is upon us so we will all transition to mental health. 

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Just like how I really enjoyed Helen Hoang's The Heart Principle, I really enjoyed this story too. I saw a lot of myself in Stella. We all need more autistic characters! We all need more neurodivergent characters! We need more fellow autistic authors too. And while I am Ace so parts of the story do not apply to me, if I was looking to understand what this sex thing others seem to care about is like, getting a male escort actually makes a lot of sense.

Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt

This is a wonderful story. I'm not sure what it means that I relate more to Selah as an adult than I think I would have when I was in 7th grade. In 7th grade my own attitude was other people were just odd. (I mean they did not do their homework so why should I care about what they thought about me, which was pretty effective self protection in hindsight) I am glad I read this book and would recommend it to anyone who has ever felt different.

Here is a poem I wrote in response which feels fitting since the book is a story told in poems.

4/28/23 d
Reading autistic books
Relating to autistic books
Leading to tears flowing

Why is the world so hard
On all of us who are different
Why is the world so hard

Celebrate neurodivergence
Celebrate mental health struggles
Celebrate LGBTQA+ rainbows

Why is the world so hard
On all of us who are different
Why is the world so hard

Wishing I knew who I was
When I was younger, a child
My ace(ness) and autistic(ness)

Why is the world so hard
On all of us who are different
Why is the world so hard

Feelings around the heaviness
Of this world, of this time period
Feelings I didn't know I bottled up