Kaylee Colter -Anythign But Typical

Kaylee Colter 

3046483

March 11^th 2014

Anything But Typical

The book I read was called Anything But Typical, by the author Nora Raleigh Baskin. The way Baskin wrote the book was very interesting, it was like an autobiography and she wrote if from the perspective of a young autistic boy she knew. Not everything in the book was written exactly how it happened and how the boy would have seen it, because obviously she couldn’t know exactly what was going on inside someone else’s head. Reading it from this perspective gave me a great understanding of what sort of things could be going in the mind of an autistic child. This book could be used as a great way for anyone to get an idea about how someone with autism lives their life every day and some of the simple things that challenge them that a lot of us simply take for granted.

The book starts out with Jason Blake, the autistic boy talking about how all people like to talk in their own language because that is what they understand the best, which is how he wanted this book to sound to the readers. Jason wanted it to be in his language. He calls people who do not have autism neurotypical, and he is aware that they are different from him. Jason is often misunderstood at school and he has had his share of trouble with his teachers and classmates. He really only feels comfortable with his family; his father, brother and especially his mother. His mother would go out of her way to do anything for him, she also tries hard to make him seem as normal as possible. Once his younger brother gets a little bit older they became friends, and Jason loves the way that his brother knows that even when it is hard for him to talk and answer questions that he is not trying to ignore you on purpose. His brother understands him and is always there for him.

His teachers never seem to understand that he really is trying and things just take him a little bit longer than most students, he is often punished for things he does unintentionally at school, but it happens so often that it really doesn’t even bother him anymore. Now that he’s older and the students are starting to notice more that he is different, he doesn’t have many friends. There is still one boy who is always nice to Jason and who Jason considers to be his friend, ­­­­­­even though they only talk what they are at school. Jason has a hidden talent that not many people know about, he is great at writing stories and he posts his stories on a web site called story bird, so that other people can read them and comment on them if they want to. He is also great at using computers. There is this one girl Phoenix Bird, who reply’s to one of his stories and then they become friends and they talk back and forth over the computer. Jason can’t believe that he has a friend who is actually a girl and he tells some people at school he has a girlfriend, even though he knows they aren’t actually going to meet and he doesn’t even know what her real name is.

Phoenix Bird does not know about Jason’s autism and when he finds out that they are both going to the same story bird convention he doesn’t what to see her there because he is afraid that she will find him disgusting like other girls do if she finds out. Eventually they do end up meeting anyways and at first Phoenix Bird is surprised at who Jason is and she expected someone very different because of all of his stories, but eventually she accepts him and his autism.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and I found it really interesting that is was written form the perspective of a young boy with autism, so that you were able to get an idea about what it must be like to live with autism. It is a really good book and an easy read, I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who works with autistic children in school, because of the unique look it gives you to how the child could be feeling at certain times. The book could help to give you some insight to why he or she reacts the way they do and what are some of the thing that they need to help them have an easier more successful day. Another reason why I really appreciated reading this book was because I found it really helped me get a better understanding of a little boy I have worked with all year in a grade five classroom. He has autism and a lot of the stuff that was said in the book can related to him and the way that he acts in different situations.

Anything But Typical was a really good book and I suggest that all future teacher read this book or a book similar to it because it can help give you a better understanding about what autistic students go through every day and the different challenges that they have to face. This book shows that even though Jason does have autism it doesn’t stop him from living his life and he doesn’t need to be normal to be happy. I loved the way the author really took her time and researched what she was writing about it made the story really interesting and different, absolutely worth the read!