Ian's Walk: A Story About Autism

Rating:
Summary: Good book for explaining autism to young children.
Review: As a teacher of Elementary Autistic Support, I use this book to educate my students' regular ed peers. I was touched by the honesty with which it discribes the unique characteristics of Autism. It is an alternative to the overused, "everyone is different" story and was exactly what I was looking for!

Rating:
Summary: Ian's Walk: A Story about Autism
Review: Even though I have two autistic boys I read Ian's Walk to my older high functioning son who is seven and he instantly noticed similarities to his five year-old brother.

While looking through the pictures you cannot help but share the emotional journey his sister takes while on this walk to the park.

The illustrations are accurately defined and capture the real essence and beauty of Ian as he takes in his surroundings like no one else.

I shared this book with many families and suggested the teachers in both classrooms read Ian's Walk during library time, especially teaching awareness the month of April.

Ian's Walk will help others to identify some symptoms they might not of understood before reading the book. For any parent of an autistic child you might want to read this alone the first time because it can be quite emotional.

You will become more aware of the day in the life of one who is autistic and never take a simple walk to the park for granted and see through the eyes of all those who resemble Ian.

Rating:
Summary: Empathy Without Being Sentimental
Review: Excellent at articulating the feelings an elementary age child has about his/her autistic sibling--the frustration when he won't cooperate; the anger when he interferes with plans; the panic when he gets lost ("My stomach does a flip-flop"). My 2nd grade daughter uses this book as a basis for sharing with friends.

Rating:
Summary: Good book for explaining autism to young children.
Review: I did like this book. I wish that it had given a few more examples or explained a little bit more. But, it was very useful in helping young children (first grade students) how to understand some of their classmate's (child with autism) behaviors.

Rating:
Summary: Walking a Mile in Ian's Shoes
Review: Julie, the middle of three children narrates a delightful story about taking a walk with her older sister and her younger brother, Ian. Ian's behavior has been described as autistic. He has strong responses to sensory stimuli, e.g. certain tastes, smells and sounds. He has original insights and is often at a loss as to how to share them with others.

One day the children take a walk to a neighborhood park. En route, Ian stops and takes in as much as he possibly can. Julie tells the story from Ian's standpoint; she sees how impressed he is by things that are more often than not overlooked by other people. When he wanders off, it is Julie who knows where to find him. She observes her little brother lovingly and learns what really does "ring his bell."

This is a lovely story for all ages and a good learning tool. It is a book for everybody. Please read this and share it with somebody.

Rating:
Summary: Touching and succinct.
Review: Leaving clinical mumbo-jumbo aside this wonderful children's book gets right to the heart of the matter: How does a child feel when one of their siblings is autistic?

Without dwelling on 'negative' emotions, and with firm understanding that the typical sibling portrayed in the book cares deeply for her autistic brother, this story recognizes the fear, anger, frustration and embarrasment so many siblings experience in respect to their special-needs brothers/sisters.

Ian's postures, habits and sensory issues suggest a child with moderate to severe autism, but I found the emotional themes were still relevant for those children dealing with more high-functioning siblings as well. I purchased the book for my five-year-old daughter as a way to open discussion, but I believe the story would be appropriate for children as old as 10. As with any children's book dealing with autism or other special needs I would recommend reading it yourself before reading it aloud to a younger child as it can be quite an emotional experience.

Does it explain autism in a clinical, scientific, and thoroughly descriptive manner - no, but I don't believe that is the author's intention. What this story does well is 'normalize' those emotions that typical siblings are likely to feel guilty about from time to time and help them to experience the world through autistic senses.

Rating:
Summary: Great help for siblings
Review: My oldest son, age 6, is diagnosed with Autism, as well as Epilepsy and Hypotonia. My almost 4 yr old son loves to have Ian's walk read to him. He's just now realizing that his big brother is different than normally developing children (he's non-verbal, still in diapers, has frequent seizures, has leg braces, etc...) He sometimes gets very frustrated with his big brother and can relate to the way the girls in the book get angry with their brother in similar situations. As much as he loves his brother it's a relief for him to see that it's okay to get angry. It's a very real story about what life is like when you go out in public with an autistic sibling. I think the book has opened up many discussions (on a preschool level and adult level as well) in our house, I would highly recommend it to any family in a similar situation.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for young siblings/classmates of child with autism
Review: The cover alone grabbed my attention: I've seen this posture from my son hundreds of times. As the parent of an autistic six-year-old, I found this book a superb, simple story for young companions of a child with autism. The story is straightforward, honest, and evokes compassion without pity. I would even speculate that this story would explain autism to adults with more clarity than any clinical definition.

My son has an older brother in the same elementary school and I've arranged for him to read this story to my autistic son's classmates. Although his classmates see this behavior and much more every day, I hope that the story, related personally, will give them one more thread of understanding. If any book can, this one will.

Rating:
Summary: A great book to introduce your autistic child to others.
Review: This book is very heartwarming in its presentation of autism and the child behind the label who does "odd" things. I was moved by the very real frustrations and annoyances experienced by Ian's sister and then the ability of this young child to see beyond the normal social boundaries and relate to this special brother of hers. This is a must-read for parents who need to explain an autistic child to others (siblings, school classmates, friends of siblings, cousins, neighbors) so that they too can see that there is a real child there who just interacts with life from a different perspective.

Rating:
Summary: Ian highlights differences
Review: Unlike most others who have posted here, I didn't like Ian's Walk. I found that the story spent a lot of time highlighting how different Ian was from other kids and completely ignored anything he might have in common with his sisters. I was uncomfortable with the author's decision to state Ian's autistic tendencies in such an outright way, since clearly everyone's experience with autism is difference. I walked away from this book, thinking we could have another Rain Man catastrophe on our hands. Everyone watched that movie and figured that they understood autism, when they really just knew about one fictional man with autism.