Hi! My name is Catlaina, and I am the author of "Ella Autie". "Ella Autie" was a book made for my senior project. Here is a quick summary:
Ella Autie is a book about autism and friendship. During this story, we follow Ella (a non-verbal autistic 4th grader who has a lot to say) through her school day, and get to see a glimpse of what being her is really like. This story is told from Ella’s perspective. Ella meets the new girl at school, Sarah, who misunderstands Ella's autism and is 'overly helpful'. This book also gives information on AAC, PECS, dyspraxia, SPD, stimming (or self-stimulation behavior), eye contact (and why it's so hard) and special interests.
With "Ella Autie", I wanted to make Ella's and Sarah (her classmate) interactions with each other as realistic as I could. That's why the antagonist in "Ella Autie" isn't your typical bully- she's really not a bully at all- she just wants to help Ella as much as she can. But by making assumptions about autism she doesn’t get the chance to really hear about Autism from Ella’s perspective.
The book is told from Ella’s point of view, so it’s easy for typical kids to empathize with her struggles. “Ella Autie” is a good book to read-aloud and a good opportunity for kids to ask questions about autism.
My book is for an audience of 7 to 13-year-olds. For more information on the basics of autism please see my other article about autism.
