When you are starting out as a parent with a child with SEND it is hard to know where to start. Your child’s paediatrician may pass on useful websites but I found it really helpful to follow any book recommendations.

Non-fiction books

‘How to raise a happy autistic child’ by Jessie Hewitson is an excellent first book to navigate autism. When Oscar was first diagnosed, I was relieved as I knew something wasn’t right. It did throw our world upside down for a bit though as we didn’t really know where to start. It is difficult knowing your child has a label, but once you get over the initial shock, you will start to embrace it.

A light-hearted book to introduce children to autism is ‘All Cats Are On The Autism Spectrum’ by Kathy Hoopmann. Each page shows a cat with a few words about an autistic trait. For example on one page ‘If they do want to fit in, they may pretend to be something they are not’ shows a cat with a lion’s mane. A lot of autistic children may mask at school to fit in with their peers. The book is great for introducing children to many other autistic traits such as the need for food to be presented in the same way every time and the need for them to do their own thing.

For older children/teenagers the book ‘Can You See Me’ shows a realistic portrayal of autism in the form of diary entries by an 11 year old autistic girl Libby Scott, who co-writes the book with Rebecca Westcott. This was followed up with Do You Know Me’ and Ways To Be Me.’ The diary entries are very powerful and provide an excellent introduction to autism and a deeper understanding of the condition.

Fiction books

‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’, by Mark Haddon, portrays a boy with Asperger’s syndrome. The boy is very talented at Maths and loves lists and patterns and dislikes certain colours and being touched.

‘Saturdays at Noon’, by Rachel Marks portrays the trials and tribulations of living and caring for a child with autism but also how these children can enrich their parents’ lives. Jake has an autistic son called Alfie and goes to a support group on Saturdays when he is having difficulties in his marriage. Emily is also at the group and the three of them explore autism together. There are lots of warm sentiments in the book about how much an autistic child can bring to the family. It struck a chord with me when Alfie refused to do things at a different time or leave the house at the right time. Oscar often takes things literally and I have to avoid saying ‘in a minute’ as he will often presume I actually mean in a minute rather than half an hour later.

An Ausome Course

One of the best things I ever did was to do the EarlyBird Plus course, run by Spectrum in Market Harborough, in Leicestershire, in conjunction with the National Autistic Society. EarlyBird (under five years old) and EarlyBird Plus (ages four to nine years 10 months old) are programmes designed for parents and carers of children with a confirmed diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, offering advice and guidance on strategies and approaches for supporting young people. It is a country-wide programme so if you are not in Leicestershire, your local council will hopefully offer this there too. At the course, I was able to meet other parents and carers and share experiences of raising an autistic child. It was an 8-week course, 6 weeks in a venue and 2 weeks where an instructor visited us at home and discussed more deeply issues that we were struggling with.

See behavioursupporthub.org.uk

You can also find Spectrum Autism Group on Facebook along with Leicestershire Autistic Society.