Can You See Me?: A powerful story of autism, empathy and kindness

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Imagine, every day having a ball of anxiety and fear knotted inside you. Now try learning algebra with all that going on."

Tally has autism but seldom tells anyone and usually hides away. When she starts her new school, everything is very big and overwhelming and she has to find ways to hide her autism, but what if she doesn't have to?

LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. Endearing, insightful and warmly uplifting, Can You SeeMe? is a story of autism, empathy and kindness that will touch readers of all ages. About This Edition ISBN: I wanted to see how Tally copes with autism and really it doesn't show much of that. But autism shows up when horrible events happen. It's quite a sweet book, my English class agree. We all read it together, went through what might happen and how Tally felt. Really, that was fun. The book was interesting but I think they should have put someone else's point of view in it, like wonder. Cause Tally became a bit annoying. So tonight... I've written a list of dos and don'ts for parenting an autistic child. Do try to adjust to their needs at times." I can only speak from my own experience, and I am not making any commentary about autism itself, but I think there is a risk to reading a book like this and assuming that just because someone presents with a certain emotional, physical, or mental symptom means that it is part of their identity. Tally talks about how offensive it is when people talk about wanting to "cure" autism, and I completely understand why autism itself is part of her identity, but some of her behavioral, psychic, and sensitivity issues could at least hypothetically be eased. Based on my life experience, I have a hard time with the message that someone has to accept everything about their condition as inevitable and unchanging.

Tally has autism which includes a very difficult condition known as demand avoidance. What that means is if someone tells her to do something straight out, she absolutely can not do it. This condition makes her behavior hard to understand, at times. Nell, her older sister, doesn’t want to understand and just wants Tally to be normal and do what she’s supposed to do. Even Tally’s Dad, at times, forgets how he’s supposed to phrase things and often his words lead to confrontation. There were some parts that made me cry because it was exactly like my experience at school. Her relationship with her sister was similar to my relationship with my brother. The relationship with her mum, being the one who understands, was the same with me.It would have been much better if there was more 'show' and much less 'tell'. A better book would try to recreate autism not explain it. Or is it a children's book where everything important has to be spelled out descriptively? It just doesn't ring authentic: it's got adult/ autism expert written all over it. Something is different about sixth grade, and Tally now feels like she has to act "normal." But as Tally hides her true self, she starts to wonder what "normal" means after all and whether fitting in is really what matters most. Tally's autism means there are things that bother her even though she wishes they didn't. It means that some people misunderstand, her and feel frustrated by her. I had never, ever read descriptions like this before that I didn't write myself. It meant so much to me to read about this from another person's perspective, and to see Tally's stress about trying to behave and keep self-control, but getting to points where she literally cannot restrain the explosive behavior that takes over. It was so accurate, and even though Tally's triggers were different than mine, I cannot even imagine what an overwhelming comfort it would have been if I could have read something like this when I was twelve.

This is a challenging read about a family learning to understand and deal with Tally’s condition. Because the author has this type of condition, the text is very honest. Tally’s diary entries are another way that the author lets the reader inside Tally’s mind. “It feels like being trapped in a scary persuasive brain that makes me believe incorrect and extreme thoughts." Tally just wants people to try to accept her for who she is. "When I'm behaving at my worst, it actually means I'm struggling the most." A great window read aloud to help students understand autism in a new way. It is early days but I really think this book is going to change a lot about how I think about things and how I support my daughter. Es una novela estupenda, nos ha encantado conocer a Tally y su manera de ver la vida. La historia tiene de todo y se agradecen muchísimo las entradas del blog. Es increíble la cantidad de ideas equivocadas que tenemos sobre la gente autista. Creo que este libro deberían leerlo en todos los colegios. Por mi parte, pienso recomendarlo mucho en la librería. I would say that about 90% of the protagonist's behaviours are recognisable in my daughter - Some parts made me laugh, others made me cry. Some parts made me go 'Ohhhhh' - lightbulb moments of realisation. I didn't care for the narrative writing style, because it was often detached and dry, and when parts of the book went on and on without advancing the plot or characters significantly, I sometimes skimmed ahead to the next engaging action. I love slice-of-life stories, but parts of this were too ordinary and detailed for my tastes, because they didn't tie into the plot or emotional current of the story, or else fulfilled the exact same purpose as a dozen other scenes.

The reader is supposed to believe that the main character, Tally, is a mainstreamed student at a public middle school, but the way her behavior is portrayed, there is no way she would be mainstreamed, and particularly without an IEP and all her teachers knowing what her needs were, which is not the case in this story. At home, Tally daily has melt-downs in which she screams at her parents and her sister, tells them she hates them, and that her behavior is all their fault, and that she can't help it. At school, however, she repeatedly comments that she feels like having a melt-down, but she just can't, because she doesn't want her friends to see. So apparently, she does have some control over her behavior, which makes her look like a spoiled brat. Enter Rupert, the neighbor's three-legged dog, who is staying with the family (against her mother’s wishes) while his owner is in the hospital. The dog growls and snaps at people and Tally’s mother deems Rupert dangerous and requires for him to wear a muzzle. And though her mother won’t let her anywhere close to Rupert, Tally immediately bonds with the dog. Tally knows that Rupert is just scared of his new surroundings and new people. “The only thing that Rupert has done wrong is be different. And she knows exactly how it feels to have nobody understand you. She knows how much it hurts to be left outside in the dark, all on your own." Tally Olivia Adams is 12 years old and in 7th grade with her friends Lucy Aisha and Layla. Her big sister Nell is boring and annoying. Her parents struggle to help her with her autism. Tally life turns around as unexpected events come around .... With diary entries written by eleven-year-old Libby Scott, based on her own experiences of autism, this pioneering book, written in collaboration with esteemed author Rebecca Westcott, has been widely praised for its realistic portrayal of autism.

This book is a combination of present-tense, third-person prose and short diary entries from the perspective of Tally, the autistic main character. The diary entries mainly focus on charting her anxiety levels and explaining terms and concepts related to autism, often breaking them down into pros and cons.No tengo la suerte de que mi sobrino con TEA sepa contarme como es vivir con autismo y como se siente, ya que es incapaz de comunicarse (o más bien nosotros somos los incapaces de entenderle) pero siento que este libro me ha acercado de alguna forma más a él y me ha hecho entender muchas de sus actitudes. Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - One thing Tally had that I did not have was the knowledge that she is autistic, she knew - I wish I had known and I wish I had books like this when I was that age.