Heath Grace, Joanna Grace

9780367460235

2021 Routledge

This original and imaginative book has been created by five-year-old Heath. In it, Heath illustrates his understanding of his autistic mother Joanna, giving insight into the different ways in which autistic and neurotypical people understand language.

In his simple and uncomplicated style, accompanied by bright and colourful illustrations, Heath explains why his mother’s brain understands words at a different rate than his own, and how they communicate in spite of their differences. Heath’s work is accompanied by explanatory notes exploring Joanna’s own experience of autism and language.