FACES OF AUTISM

Members of the autism community have their say in this collection of interviews.

Autism is a spectrum, and those affected by it represent a whole range of experiences. Each person’s autism is different, which is why it is important to listen to as many perspectives as possible. In this work, Aguirre compiles interviews with over 30 advocates from the autism community, including people with the condition and their families. They discuss the ways autism manifests in their lives as well as questions of faith, community, work, school, and what they wish others knew about the condition. Some talk about the way their autism intersects with other issues in their lives, like Ben from Virginia, who has encountered both ableism and racism, often at the same time. Ginny Conroy, also from Virginia, talks about how her brother, Russell, manages with both autism and Down syndrome. She discusses how the autism was in some ways harder for the family to deal with when he was a child. Russell’s situation inspired Conroy—who suspects several of her family members fall somewhere on the spectrum—to embark on a career in special education and behavioral analysis. Several other parents and siblings of people with autism share their own insights, which readers outside the autism community may be surprised to learn. “I would…like others to know that parents of autistic children can be under significant scrutiny from others, including autistic adults,” says Amanda, a third Virginian, whose twins, Noah and Nick, have the disorder. “Some of them are displeased with the parents of autistic children.…I am terrified that my children could feel the same way one day.” Such messages contribute to the author’s portrait of the contemporary autism landscape, one in which increased activism and visibility go hand in hand with differing opinions and occasional misunderstandings.

The book is elegantly formatted, with full-color photographs of each person profiled. Aguirre is a minimal presence as an interviewer, but her short, open-ended questions invite intriguing responses from her interviewees. She frequently speaks with multiple members of the same family, which helps to show how individuals’ autism can shape the lives and relationships of those around them. The variety of experiences within the autism community is on display here even as members of that group admit to feeling sidelined or silenced. “People don’t care that I’m autistic, and they don’t care that I’m an autistic parent,” says Sal from Texas. “People don’t even care that I have my degree and am a practitioner who specializes in autism. They still don’t want to hear what I have to say.” The book is released as a special edition of Autism Parenting Magazine, and the primary audience seems to be those who are already inside or adjacent to the autism community. But readers with little experience of autism or a curiosity to learn more will be well served by this volume, which succeeds in putting a number of faces to the condition.

An assortment of enlightening interviews with people with autism and their families.