It’s always a good thing when people attempt to understand each other. The 2019 Read Harder Challenge is here to nudge us along in this pursuit with task number 13, a book by or about someone that identifies as neurodiverse.
Temple Grandin is an animal scientist and perhaps the country’s most well-known author with autism. She’s spent decades educating the public on both issues. Her book, “Animals Make Us Human” is the product of 30 years of research into how to help animals live their best lives. She covers pets, zoo animals and livestock, with an eye to meeting their needs in a compassionate way, rather than prioritizing human entertainment. The book contains some disturbing facts about factory farms and other settings, but also offers ways to improve.
“Born on a Blue Day” is Daniel Tammet’s memoir about living with autism
and savant syndrome. Tammet has synesthesia, causing him to experience words and numbers as shapes and colors. The numbers of his birthdate are blue in his mind. He recounts some amazing accomplishments – memorizing Pi to thousands of decimals places and learning to speak Icelandic in only a week. He also speaks of the deep love that connects him with his family, and shares the experience of developing a romantic relationship as a person with autism.
In the novel, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time,” Mark Haddon’s main character is teenager who is autistic. Christopher sets out to solve a mystery: who murdered the neighbor’s dog? In the process of his investigation, he uncovers new-to-him information about his own parents. Though the narrator often does not understand what is going on with the people around him, his descriptions allow us to see enough to fill in the blanks, and to experience the depth of pain and joy filling the lives of the adults who care for him.
“All the Weight of Our Dreams” is an anthology that gives people of color with autism
a platform to speak for themselves. Dozens of writers and artists from seven different countries contribute essays, fiction, poetry, photographs and other artwork. Even just reading the table of contents provides a deeper perspective on autism, with titles such as “Plea From the Scariest Kid on the Block” and “Love Letter to My Autism.”
