Autism Book (Preview)

As part of my blog’s 5th Anniversary, I’m going to look back on some of my oldest creative writing pieces. However, to start with, I’d like to share something I’m currently working on. Below is a preview of my Autism Book.
Several years ago, I got in contact with a media group through Ambitious about Autism. They were interested in hearing Autistic people’s life stories, told in unique and creative ways. I thought this would be an excellent opportunity for me. So, after exchanging several emails with them, I wrote a story loosely based on my life. It was about a boy named Jason, who goes from primary school to adulthood while discovering he has Autism. The aim was to show how it affected different stages of his life and how he ultimately embraces his condition. The ending would’ve revealed that I, the author, was Jason.
I wanted this story to be easy to read for any age group, particularly younger children. I remember how hard it was to read longer books unaided when I was a boy. If this was something my younger self could enjoy and learn from, then anyone could. With that I mind, I decided to write each page with only 1-3 sentences – an illustration would help emphasise what I was saying. I also wanted to avoid using complex words. But I still included a few of them to challenge the reader. The reading level would go up as Jason got older in the story. I enjoyed writing this way because my pieces tend to be long and detailed. It was challenging to break away from this and write with a particular audience in mind. However, I didn’t want my writing to seem too simplistic. So I also included descriptive text, explaining what I wanted the illustrations to show and represent.
When I finished the piece, I was delighted with the results. For once, I’d completed something of my own in a reasonable amount of time. The story was easy to follow. The messages were well-presented. And the additional notes helped express my vision.
As it turned out, though, my vision was a little too ambitious. The piece ended up being over 70 pages long with the structure I had. Plus, I was sure some parts were still too complicated for younger readers. Furthermore, since the group I contacted wasn’t a publishing company, they didn’t have the resources to turn my story into a fully-illustrated book – as I’d hoped. They said they were still interested, but I’d have to scale it back to fit their criterion. Since I didn’t want to lose any my additional efforts, I decided it was best to turn them down and find another outlet.
So now I have this fully-written story, with accompanying notes, that needs fine-tuning. I can’t show you the whole thing here since I have plans for it. But I hope you’ll enjoy the preview. Also, be on the lookout for more unseen pieces like this one over the coming weeks/months. Until then, stay tuned.

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The Autism Book: Jason’s Story

This is Jason.

[Jason (a boy of primary school age) stands on his own, wearing causal clothes, smiling.]1

This is Jason’s mum, dad, his twin sister and his dog.

[Jason and his family (mum, dad, sister and dog) standing together, wearing casual clothes, smiling. Jason is wearing different clothes than in the first picture so as to not stand out.]2

And this is Jason’s classroom at school.

[A female teacher (Mrs Swane) sits in a classroom, reading an “Ugly Duckling” storybook. There are at least 20 students sitting on the floor listening, all dressed in the same school uniform. Among them is Jason, though he’s not easy to spot. In another part of the room stands the teaching assistant (Sue) who’s supervising.]3

Jason is just like all the other boys and girls his age. He works hard in lessons, he plays in the playground, and he has friends who invite him to birthday parties.

[Three separate images. [Left] Jason sitting at his desk with other students, doing maths problems. The look on his face shows he’s trying hard to concentrate. Sue is nearby looking at his work. [Centre] Jason playing football with two/three other boys in the playground. [Right] Jason being handed a birthday invitation by one of the female students.]4

But there is something different about Jason. Can you see what it is? Of course you can’t. It’s not something your eyes can spy.

[The exact same ‘classroom’ picture that was shown before. This time, however, there is an arrow pointing to Jason – this is the first time we’re properly focusing on him as an individual.]5

You see, Jason can see and hear things. Things that other children can’t.

[Jason sits at one of several desks in the school library. There’s an open space in the centre of the room. Behind the desks are shelves of books. Some of the shelves have labels that read things like ‘History’, ‘Science’ and ‘Fiction’. A few other students sit at the desks with open books or pencils and paper. Jason has a book in front of him too, but he’s looking towards the open space in the room. His hand cupped behind his ear.]6

Sometimes Jason hears rock music playing in the library.

[The exact same picture, only now there’s a rock band in the open space, singing and playing instruments. There’s a faint-blue aura surrounding them, which seems to be coming from Jason’s line of sight – this is to emphasise the band is something projected from Jason’s mind.]7

Sometimes Jason sees robots fighting zombies.

[In the school playground, Jason watches in awe as robots and zombies are charging towards each other. Again, there is a faint-blue aura surrounding them which comes from Jason. Other students are skipping, playing football, or running around playing chase.]8

Sometimes Jason sees his favourite TV characters playing dodgeball during assembly.

[In a large school hall, a male teacher points to words on a whiteboard (“DIVERSITY, EQUALITY, ACCEPTANCE“, etc.) in front of rows and rows of focused students. Jason (in the back row) has his head turned behind him, watching familiar-looking TV characters throw red balls at each other. The blue aura is present again.]9

Nobody else can see or hear these things because they’re not Jason. They don’t have his eyes, ears or brain. This is Jason’s special secret. His own special super power.

[Jason sits smiling at his desk, between two other students. One has an alien sitting next to them, while the other has a ghost hovering above their head (both are surrounded by Jason’s aura). The students are busy focusing on their papers and neither creature is taken notice of.]10

Jason loves seeing and hearing these things. They make him feel like a spy or a superhero.

[Jason sitting at his desk, looking up at two thought bubbles. In the left one he’s dressed as a secret agent, wearing goggles that let him see invisible monsters. In the right one, he’s dressed as Superman flying through the clouds (only there’s a ‘J’ symbol on his chest rather than an ‘S’).]11

Sometimes, however, Jason’s powers cause him…problems.

[This is almost a panned-out shot of the last picture; Jason sits in the same position, looking up. However, the thought bubbles are gone. He’s at his desk on one side of the classroom while everyone else is on the other. The students are sitting on the floor with their heads turned to him. Mrs Swane holds a book titled “Shakespeare” and Sue is standing nearby. They’re all looking at Jason either confused or concerned. Jason is so lost in thought he’s not realised everyone has moved. The picture and text are shown across a double-page for extra impact.]12/13