posted on 02 Apr 2016

Isaac and his Amazing Asperger Superpowers by Melanie Walsh

Good quality picture books that try to portray and demystify hidden disabilities like Aspergers Syndrome are still pretty thin on the ground so I was immediately attracted to this one when I saw it displayed prominently in a Penarth bookshop. 

I am convinced that the reason that there are still relatively few books with protagonists like Isaac is that there persists a view from publishers that this is something of a niche market. This is of course not the case particularly as children with a range of disabilities have been living and being educated in inclusive nurseries and schools in most countries for many years. In this book the fact that the word 'Asperger' is included in the title immediately frames it as a book all about Aspergers Syndrome. This is further emphasised by an endorsement from The Autistic Society on the front and the back covers which could potentially limit the target audience. Is it only aimed at children and adults who want to know more about this particular condition? Perhaps I am wrong but I would be interested to know whether the author wanted this informational emphasis or whether she would have preferred it to be just a book about a boy called Isaac with amazing superpowers, who just happened to have Aspergers Syndrome.

On the other hand, this is certainly a book that is specifically trying to educate its readers about this common condition and it does this very effectively. The brightly coloured naive illustrations are very pleasing throughout. I also liked the way that the wide spectrum of autism is well conveyed on the end papers as a rainbow of colours that bleeds across from left to right. The book is written from the point of view of a young boy called Isaac who thinks of himself as a superhero with superpowers associated with his Asperger Syndrome. As we read on he gives the reader important information about some common characteristics like having  a good memory for detail, repetitive behaviours, super sensitivity to noise, problems with remembering social conventions like saying 'hello' and the benefits of having an object to fidget with to improve concentration in class. These characteristics are depicted very well and with some humour which would encourage some interesting discussion with children.

I think that this is an excellent information book that should be widely available to all children, those who work with them and families because of the way it depicts a boy with Aspergers as being normal, but also as being a bit different. It also gives plenty of good examples of how children like Isaac can be very easily included into a mainstream nursery or school with a bit of care, empathy and imagination. 

Whilst this is a very welcome and well written addition to any book collection, there needs to be a good range of other positive and authentic representations of people with Aspergers including fictional story books that are available for everybody to read. Picture books are very powerful cultural artefacts, particularly those aimed at younger readers as they contribute to shaping their initial view of the world. Only through experiencing a wide variety of such books might they (and adult readers ) begin to fully understand the important message about ordinariness alongside the 'specialness' of such children.

 

Karen Argent

1st April 2016