Pat Thomas

Suddenly, ableism! Thousands of them!
Y'all get bullet points because I'm too grumpy at this thing for actual paragraphs.

- Uses person first language despite the majority of the autistic community preferring identity first language
- Treats the autistic person as an interesting side show exhibit rather than the person most qualified to tell others about what autism is like ie does not centre the autistic person in their own story
- Focuses almost exclusively on the strangeness/"negatives" and show more stereotypical outward behaviour that people associate with autism ie reinforces othering
- One of the most bothering things for me is that the autistic children are depicted apart from everyone on almost every page
- Let's not even talk about that one page with what looks like hand-over-handing while doing a JIGSAW PUZZLE (whoops, guess I just did)
- This book gets one singular point for showing both male and female autistic children in the illustrations.

I would not recommend this book to anyone, but especially not to read to anyone who is actually autistic. There's much better children's books on the topic out there. [b:I am an Aspie Girl: A book for young girls with autism spectrum conditions|26591202|I am an Aspie Girl A book for young girls with autism spectrum conditions|Danuta Bulhak-Paterson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1444697689s/26591202.jpg|46613341] for instance. show less

"Don't Call Me Special" is interactive, descriptive, and diverse. It teaches about all the different ways someone with a disability might interact with the world around them. The book involves the reader by placing assumptions that he/she might make about a person with a disability. It also has questions throughout for the reader to discuss and relate real life experiences to the concepts presented in the book. "Don't Call Me Special" does a great job explaining the different tools that can show more be used in every day life to make simple tasks easier like ramps, scissors, glasses, and the helper's role. I also appreciated that it includes the cause of the disability could be from birth, illness, or an accident as many children have a hard time with the concept of why and how when it comes to differences. "Don't Call Me Special" addresses emotions, questions, and feelings and promotes diversity and inclusion. The book's structure is more informative than personal and I felt like I was missing the "story" aspect. show less

This book does a great job giving children facts about other children who are autistic but simplifying it so that they can comprehend the book better. It answers questions that most children would ask about autism in a factual and direct way. For example, it explains that we don't know the cause of autism in most cases, but that it is an issue with the brain. I thought that the questions every few pages made the book a great tool for having a conversation about autism where students could show more openly ask questions. I would recommend this book to a teacher to read to a class to educate them on other students with autism that may be in their class or grade level. show less

Don't Call Me Special is intended for the typical child audience. The title itself is refreshing and pulls away from the idea that "Special Needs" children are different. This book is not a book about specific disabilities or about rights for your child. What this book DOES do is open dialog for elementary school typical children. To me, reading this book in the classrooms with typical students helps those students realize that having a disability is no big deal. This book is not intended to show more help those with disabilities. The book is intended to help typical children address concerns they have for students they share a classroom with that may have learning or physical disabilities. Get this book and use it as a tool to open up a great discussion! show less