Can You See Me?: A powerful story of autism, empathy and kindness

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Tally isn't ashamed of being autistic -- even if it complicates life sometimes, it's part of who she is. But this is her first year at Kingswood Academy, and her best friend, Layla, is the only one who knows. And while a lot of other people are uncomfortable around Tally, Layla has never been one of them . . . until now. Enter Rupert, the neighbor's three-legged dog, who is staying with the family (against her mother’s wishes) while his owner is in the hospital. The dog growls and snaps at people and Tally’s mother deems Rupert dangerous and requires for him to wear a muzzle. And though her mother won’t let her anywhere close to Rupert, Tally immediately bonds with the dog. Tally knows that Rupert is just scared of his new surroundings and new people. “The only thing that Rupert has done wrong is be different. And she knows exactly how it feels to have nobody understand you. She knows how much it hurts to be left outside in the dark, all on your own."

Imagine, every day having a ball of anxiety and fear knotted inside you. Now try learning algebra with all that going on." With diary entries written by eleven-year-old Libby Scott, based on her own experiences of autism, this pioneering book, written in collaboration with esteemed author Rebecca Westcott, has been widely praised for its realistic portrayal of autism.

Reviews

LIBBY: My Mum (she made me say that!) Really strong females inspire me, like Taylor Swift, Little Mix, Rebel Wilson, and of course, Greta Thunberg. There is no major twists or turns I'll say, but it is a sad and uplifting story altogether. Tally endures rough times and finds her autism hard . But at home, things aren't going so well. Mum and Dad have been making Tally feel pressured and upset, and Tally wishes things didn't bother her so much - but they do, and sometimes she feels so misunderstood and frustrated, she could explode.

This book was about: At the start,10yr old tally tries to fit in with everyone else because she’s different but in fact she doesn’t want to be different.She wants to be “normal”. The reason why she thinks she’s not normal is because she has terrible tantrums and hates being told what to do and a boy named Luke at her school teases her for being “weird” and that really effects her feelings and sometimes she hides those feeling and when her friends ask her play something she doesn’t want to, she tries to fit in and go with the flow. In the end, tally finds out she’s autistic but she’s not proud. She thinks being autistic is bad and tries hide it as much as possible. But then she finds another women who’s autistic and talks about how tally should be her and tally soon realises that being autistic is great and she shouldn’t be ashamed. And her mum even bought her a diary to write about everything she’s feeling.

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Tally’s friends don’t really get her either. They seem to expect Tally to be and act like them and that is something that Tally isn’t comfortable with. “ ... they make her feel like she is clinging to the side of a cliff while her friends all peel her fingers off the edge, one at a time." And then there’s Luke, the bully, who makes her life miserable at school with all his nasty comments.

The book's descriptions of her feelings, and her explanations for things that don't make sense to other people, are near-perfect. I can relate so much to feeling that constant sense of rage and explosion, and being so frustrated with people who thought that I was choosing my bad behavior, wanted to be miserable all the time, and enjoyed making life a living hell for me and everyone else in my family. Tally clearly explains to the reader the state that she gets in, showing that she is not acting out for selfish reasons, but is suffering tremendously and cannot contain herself. Then Tally's mum and dad tell her about something she's never heard about before. Something called autism. And everything changes.

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With diary entries written by eleven-year-old Libby Scott, based on her own experiences of autism, this pioneering book, written in collaboration with esteemed author Rebecca Westcott, has been widely praised for its realistic portrayal of autism. Tally is eleven years old and she's just like her friends. A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit of riding alone in Copenhagen, but for their Jews. Tally has autism which includes a very difficult condition known as demand avoidance. What that means is if someone tells her to do something straight out, she absolutely can not do it. This condition makes her behavior hard to understand, at times. Nell, her older sister, doesn’t want to understand and just wants Tally to be normal and do what she’s supposed to do. Even Tally’s Dad, at times, forgets how he’s supposed to phrase things and often his words lead to confrontation.