This weekend we have been reading a wonderful book by Alison Handley, called ‘Hey, I’m Maisie! And I am Autistic’ . This fantastic book aims to help children and grown ups alike, understand what it can be like to be an autistic girl. It is positive, uplifting and educates it’s readers in the challenges autistic girls face. It also teaches the important fact that autistic people are individuals and shouldn’t be generalised.

What did we like about it?

• Supporting Autistic Girls We particularly loved how this book aims to open up a dialogue about autism. It would be wonderful to use this book as a prompt to start a discussion about a girl’s recent autism diagnosis. The book is positive, light hearted and accessible for children. It uses concise language and fun illustrations to engage the reader.

• Educates: Whether it be the reader themselves who’ve had a recent diagnosis of autism, or a friend or family member- this book is a fantastic way of teaching people about autism from an autistic girls point of view. Alison Handley’s book educates its reader all about autism, the traits a person may have and challenges they may face. It also does this in such a lovely, informal way that makes you not realise quite how much you’ve learnt until you’ve finished the book. A fantastic children’s book to have in a school classroom to help children to understand any of their peers who may be autistic.

• Beautiful Illustrations– The illustrations by Glen Holman are really lovely. They compliment the book well and suit the target audience.

• Specific to autistic girls– There’s now a lot of brilliant children’s books out there that feature autistic boys. Whilst this is great, I was delighted to discover such a wonderful children’s book that explains autism from a girls perspective and experience. Autism can present itself in different ways in girls than boys and as a result has often been under diagnosed and misunderstood. This book, I believe, has the potential to help more people be aware and understanding of autism in girls- ultimately ensuring young autistic girls receive better support when needed.

Find ‘Hey, I’m Maisie! And I am Autistic’ on Amazon here

*Please note, we received a sample pdf for review and this post is sponsored. All words and opinions are our own.