April is Autism Awareness Month, a time to spread awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). If you have been seeing blue ribbons and puzzle pieces, you have seen the symbol of autism. The rainbow puzzle pieces represent the complexity of ASD. On April 2nd, Autism Awareness Day is celebrated with Light It Up Blue, when you wear blue to show your support for autism.
Are you aware of the Abbot Public Library’s autism collection on Overdrive/Libby and hoopla? Learn more about ASD by checking out some of these items!
FICTION
Ginny Moon: A Novel by Benjamin Ludwig
This debut novel stars Ginny Moon, a teenager with autism who was taken away from her abusive mother and moved from home to home until at last she landed at one with adoptive parents who love her. But she is different, and feels as if something is missing. And no one seems to understand…
ebook and audiobook on Overdrive and ebook and audiobook on hoopla
Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer, read by Joshilyn Jackson
Maxon, a NASA engineer, and Sunny have an autistic son. Sunny is pregnant again, meanwhile Maxon is on a mission to the moon. And then everything seems to go wrong. Their marriage hangs in the balance, Sunny’s mother is dying in the hospital, and an accident in space endangers the NASA mission. So much for the “normal” life Sunny wanted.
Audiobook on hoopla.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: A Novel by Mark Haddon
This bestselling novel features a boy-turned investigator with autism, trying to solve the mystery of the death of his neighbor’s dog.
ebook and audiobook on Overdrive/Libby
NONFICTION
Funny, You Don’t Look Autistic by Michael McCreary
Looking at someone, you can’t tell whether they have autism or not, which is what stand-up comic Michael McCreary discusses in his memoir. After being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder when he was five, he “got hit with the performance bug not much later” and started a life in performance. Find out what it is like for Michael to live with ASD in this memoir – whether you have ASD and want something to relate to, or whether you want to learn and understand more about it.
ebook and audiobook on Overdrive/the Libby app, and as an ebook on hoopla.
Autism in Heels by Jennifer Cook O’Toole
Jennifer O’Toole, a prominent figure of Autism, shares what it is like to live with Asperger’s Syndrome. Just like every other person, she goes through the struggle of life’s journey, full of self-discovery, and she shows what it means to be a strong, independent woman.
ebook in hoopla.
Be Different: Adventures of a Free-Range Aspergian with Practical Advice for Aspergians, Misfits, Families & Teachers by John Elder Robison
A collection of stories from someone who grew up with ASD before the diagnosis existed, Be Different is about the life of John Elder Robison from when he was a child to when he was a young adult, coping with being different yet trying to have a “normal” life.
ebook on Overdrive
Also, check out these movies on hoopla, including A Boy Called Po, about a father of an autistic son who is coping with the recent loss of his wife, raising his sixth-grader son by himself, and dealing with workplace pressures on top of it all.
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