About The Everyday Autism Books

The Everyday Autism series sprang from a request from Madi’s Kinder teacher who asked if there was anything she could do, or anything she needed to know to help Madi succeed and enjoy herself at Kinder, and to help the other kids understand her better after comments such as ‘Madi is dumb’ and ‘Madi doesn’t know anything’. The response to the simple, heartfelt story in which I tried to describe what was going on inside Madi’s head was amazing, and led to other books in the series including one featuring Thomas, whose autism presents quite differently.

Teachers, parents, and Madi’s classmates found these books very helpful, and so I revised them, changed the illustrations, and presented them to the wider world in the hope that they would raise awareness and understanding of the growing reality of autism.

I’d like to think these simple picture books will help other parents of autistic children to understand their children better and encourage them to see what is possible. I’d also like to think that teachers and the wider community might become less fearful of autism and more skilled in relating to people on the autism spectrum and able to appreciate their gifts of concentration and intense experience.