Anything But Normal

Going back on my childhood years, I can’t really recall reading much about children with disabilities and well never had a classmates with any type of disability. I guess that might’ve been the reason why our teachers never really encouraged literature on disabilities. To begin with, I really liked that the author wrote the book in first person because we as the audience can go into this journey through the eyes of a person with a disability. In this story, Anything but Typical, the story is about Jason and what he has to go through. Jason is a boy who has autism but who’s creativity is not affected by it. It is in fact true that his interaction with other individuals is affected due to his autism. I found it very interesting when he makes friends with that girl online using the Storyboard. I mean he basically used technology to community effectively with someone and this was probably something many people didn’t think was possible. As the story progressed I felt like I was part of Jason. That is to say, I was as excited as he was to have made a real friend which is hardly anyone thought he would be able to do at any point of his life. I really felt like crying out of the excitement I felt about this because I felt it was a big accomplishment in his life. As their friendship grew, so did my attachment to him and such relationship. As a result, I became as anxious and felt bad for him when he learned that he might have to meet her. Although I am not autistic, his whole relationship with the girl, emailing her, and having to meet with her was something I could relate to. I think that being able to relate to him made me more attached to him and reinforced the bond that was created as I read the story.
I really liked how he started the book because I feel like he clarified many things. First of all, he address how most people think of him and the misconceptions. In addition, I liked how he said that when he wrote he felt that he could really be heard. I mean a lot of students feel that way even though they might not have a disability. I honestly would have to say that it was the art of writing which helped him overcome obstacles because he really believed he had a voice and made great use of it. Another favorite statement that I really liked was when he said he would write this book in first person and in our language. I think this just proved how capable he was regardless of the low expectations that people had about him. I could honestly say that Jason really inspired me because he proved how one can overcome “barriers” if they believe they can regardless of whatever others think. I personally think this is a very good book to have in our classroom shelves because not only does it expose students to a disability but it also proves to be quite inspirational for them. Here we have a story of Jason a child with autism who regardless of the low expectations he is able go above and beyond what people thought he could. I really liked this book and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone.