Book Review # 4

Elder, Jennifer, Jennifer Elder, and Marc Thomas. Different Like Me : My Book of Autism Heroes. London: Jessica Kingsley Limited, 2005.

Different Like Me is a collection of stories about famous people who have (or had) autism. The purpose of this book is to show that even someone with autism (or Asperger’s Syndrome) can make an important contribution to our society. The narrator of this story is Quinn, an 8 ¾ year old boy who has autism. He begins the book by giving the reader a brief history of autism. He talks about how autism did not have a name until the 1940’s, when Dr. Kanner and Dr. Asperger compiled a group of characteristics found in both of their patients. This is when the two doctors decided to give the name “autism” to their patient’s condition. The book goes on to give short biographies of many famous people who had either autism or Asperger’s Syndrome. Some of these people include Albert Einstein, Andy Warhol, Andy Kaufman, Piet Mondrain, Joseph Cornell, and many more. After the biographies, Quinn expresses fondness for all of the autistic people in the book. He says, “they didn’t let anybody else make them feel bad for not fitting in,” (46). He is very excited that all of these autistic people were able to make a difference in society and leave their mark with people. Quinn is not sure what he is going to do with his special talents, but he is sure he will do something great and “different” (46).
Jennifer Elder is a mother with two sons, one of whom has autism. The fact that she spends all day with her autistic son gives her an insider’s perspective on this situation. She has the knowledge and multiple perspectives of this disability. She has the opinion and perspective of not only herself, but also her son with and her son without autism. This gives her an edge ahead of other authors on knowing the intricacies of how autism works and what it is like to live and be close with someone who has autism. At the end of the book, there is a list of books for further reading for children. This list includes more books about the famous people mentioned in the book as well as other books for teaching kids about disabilities. This book is a great resource for children ages 8-12 to look at and realize that no matter who they are they have the ability to make a meaningful contribution to society. This is a great book to teach children to reach for the stars!