Book Review - How to be Human: Diary of an Autistic Girl

How to be Human: Diary of an Autistic Girl

by. Florida Frenz

Rating ***** (5 stars)

I received the book for free in exchange for an honest review. The following thoughts are my opinion.

I was so excited to receive this book. There are not enough books by Aspies (yes I prefer that term) for Aspies. There are a fair number of books by neurotypical people telling other neurotypical people how Aspies think. No offense to neurotypical people, but how I think is just as big a mystery to you as how you think is to me. Aspies think differently.

Granted to say, I was fascinated that a teenager wrote a book for other struggling kids. It was about time.

My first impression of the book was that it was a nice quality. The pages are all color. The pictures are obviously drawn by a kid, but a talented kid. The font is not typical. It reminded me of a Geronimo Stilton book, except bigger, hardback, and talking about Autism instead of mice. My kids love the format of Geronimo Stilton books. I think it is just easier for kids with ASD and ADHD to process.

Despite my best intentions the book was ripped from my hands, and navigated through all three of my children before I had a chance to read it. It is a testament to the quality of the book that it still looks new. J begged me to allow him to review the book. L decided to review it also. Their reviews are included at the bottom.

In the first page of the book Florida describes the neurology of Autism in the easiest and most simplistic terms, and I agree with how she put all of it. Any girl who knows the meaning of plasticity of the brain is someone I will completely relate to.

She then goes on to describe sensory overload in an amazing relatable way. However, I can tell that Florida has more audio sensitivities then any others. I do love the phrase emotional calculus. I can see a poster on my wall at work saying something to the effect of - I do not have time to calculate emotional calculus today.

All that and more is just in the forward to the book. It was an amazing read. In five pages she summed up everything you need to know about an autistic brain.

The book itself is divided into different steps. Each step is a concept of learning social skills. It starts with more basic concepts such as figuring out faces, figuring out emotions, and then matching emotions to faces. It ends with more complex concepts such as consequences, the social order of school, and how you fit into that social order. There are a total of 23 steps. The last step is Human or Alien?. My answer - alien. I even voted that I would use an alien emoticon to represent myself at work today. Florida's answer is a bit more enlightened then that.

Each step has text to explain about what the concepts means. The text is not overwhelming. It is usually summed up in a few short sentences. Florida then includes a drawing that she created which relates to the topic, and then her personal story which brings context to the drawing. Most steps are a page. Most of the page is filled up with the artwork. However, the artwork includes the words which really explains the concept. This is done with speech bubbles, labeling, or journaling with the pictures.

This is a book I look at and think, yes I think like that. Which to me says it is an accurate representation of autism. It is the only book of it's kind, that I have seen, which is targeted towards kids. Pure Genius!

Should you get this book? You should get ten copies. You should get one for your child, to let them know they are not alone and help them to understand themselves. I honestly believe that when they understand how they are different from neurotypicals, it is then that they learn to adapt. (I will defend my choice of the word different, we are different, we are not bad). You should also buy a copy for everyone else! Give one to your child's teacher next year. Have one on hand for a regular baby-sitter. Send one out to family. Read it in your child's classroom. Use it in a social skills group. It is useful for children of all ages to learn and understand about what it is like to have an ASD. While the book is a lot about how to navigate the world, it also tells others what the autistic mind is like.

While Florida is autistic, this book is also useful for teaching social skills to other youth who have difficulty. S, who is bipolar, also has a hard time with social interactions. She also is very artistic. She completely related to this book, and then started on working on writing her own. How is that for empowerment?

J is 13 and too cool for anything at the moment. However, I had to practically wrestle to book away from him. He did take it from me on multiple occasions. L looks at the pictures. While it is in her reading level, she currently refuses to read anything except Riley's Rules at the moment. We have used the pictures to talk about some concepts.

The following are reviews from my children:

J - Age 13 dx - Asperger's and ADHD

A good book. It really shows the nature of kids with Autism, and some of the struggles that they go through. It will help kids, parents, and even teachers to understand what their child or student is going through. It also helps the kid with Autism to help them understand that they are special, but they are not alone. And it helps them understand some feelings, and thoughts that probably haven't crossed their mind yet, or if they have then it helps explain it in better depth. My personal favorite part was the alien drawings, and also the very end of the book with other disorders that kids have. The writing on the pictures are a little sloppy, it looked like my writing.

L - Age 9 dx - currently Mood Disorder - NOS, in reality she is also an Aspie

I didn't read the book, but I looked at the pictures. It looked funny.You should read this book because it tells you what you could say to people. The pictures are a little strange. I learned from the book that fighting is not the way.