Meet the protagonists
Terence
When I first met Terence, he used to leave the classroom without asking permission, often missing essential pieces of information. Terence described the reason for his little escapades as getting overwhelmed with a topic and scared to ask the teacher to explain it again.
Albert
Albert was a delightful young man with a deep voice and posh accent. Albert was polite and well mannered, however, he often missed the subtle body language of his interlocutors and carried on speaking endlessly.
Nicole
When I first met Nicole, she was looking for a book about ADHD as she was told I had a collection of pocketbooks about different learning difficulties. Nicole was interested in the volume about ADHD because that was her diagnosis.
Georgie
Georgie had a strong interest in science and a passion for animal welfare. Georgie’s records indicated she was autistic. However, most people would not notice any significant differences in her behaviour compared with her peers, until very recently, when she had become unusually quiet and occasionally would not provide a verbal answer when asked a question.
Rowan
Rowan had some friends who had a diagnosis of autism and these friends’ explanations of what made them autistic were all too familiar to Rowan, especially how they found it hard to communicate and interact with people.
Ace
Ace’s mother called to explain that Ace was autistic and did not want any additional help with his learning. He would appreciate it if no one spoke to him about being autistic, as he found the topic unnecessary and unhelpful.
Max
Max had finished school and was already working part time. He had received his autism report and wanted to know ‘what to do with it’. The diagnosis was not a surprise, but the emptiness that followed was. ‘I am autistic, so what do I do with that piece of information?’
Sessé
He is full of cheeky ways to get his wishes met. He is also sensitive and caring, with an extraordinary ability to read my mind even if he cannot articulate a full sentence using words but can say so much with his eyes, his kisses, hugs, tears and laughter.
Hilra
When I was two years old, I was given the present of a baby brother with physical disabilities, with a developmental delay and severe autism. When he was born, an advocate-sister was also born.