Can You See Me?

"Even on the days when you feel invisible and misunderstood, there is always someone out there who can see you; someone who knows you and understands what it's like to be you. You just must look for them. And if you can find those people and make them your friends then everything will end up working out better than you ever thought it would. Everything will be ok."

Do You know me is a Sequel to Can You See Me by Libby Scott who is an Autistic Author telling the story of a Fictional Girl Tally who is Autistic and in year 7. Following on from the events of book 1 It’s amazing to be back with Tally again and to see her grow, learn and come out of her shell a little more and it’s amazing to follow her on her journey of self-discovery and learning how to fit into the World around her once again.

This One covers Tally’s First residential trip away from her Parents and spending the week in the outdoors and learning how to face your fear as well as coping with Change and dealing with a lot of emotions and anxiety that come with being away from your Safe space for a week.

This book was equally brilliant and offered a valuable insight and portrayal of autism in children's literature which I think is much needed, as the book mentions Tally feels like she's the only person with autism before the school trip as she never reads books with characters like her. As a teacher, the book contains lots of helpful little 'top tips' in Tally's diary entries at the end of some chapters along with providing facts and knowledge about autism, reinforcing how people are like snowflakes - no 2 people will be the same. The book contains the important message that autism is not something bad or a disease, it's just different. People with autism may have strengths and weaknesses in different areas and may have differences in emotions and feelings, they may feel emotions more strongly than their peers, particularly things like anxiety.

Once Again, A Book with a Lot of Heart and Meaning attached to it that Honestly felt like a Warm hug at times!

I thought that this book was very well done and it was such a good way to open people's eyes and educate people on what really goes on in autistic people's minds (well at least from Libby Scott's perspective). I think that it is really cool how this book is almost a direct reflection of Scott's own feelings and personal experiences with autism. The fact that this book was written by an autistic person makes you take in every word all that much more. I would definitely recommend everyone read this book as it may help you in understanding more about autism and what to do if you meet someone with it (or I guess what not to do).

This Book is Focused on what it’s Like to be Autistic and a First-Person account of the struggles, differences and the happiness that come from being autistic. This Book has made me feel SEEN as an Autistic person myself. Its shows so much that one of the authors is Autistic and I can say that I felt the things the Character went through as I have been through some that myself. This took me right back to my School Experiences and while some didn’t ring true for myself some hit me in the face, and I was right back at school again Tally Olivia Adams is 12 years old and has just finished Year 6 and apart to Start Secondary School for the First time with her friends Lucy Aisha and Layla. Her big sister Nell & Her Parents. However, for me Her parents struggle to help her with her autism & Her Sister just wants to “Change” and make Tally grow up and for her not to be Autistic along with the normal siblings’ relationships. Tally life turns around as unexpected events come around .... Through the struggles of adjusting to a New School, New People, New Environments and New Teachers you see life through Tally’s eyes and her just trying to find a place in the world, learn to adjust and trying to just fit in when things are so difficult. However, her friends that promised to look out for her decided that they need to grow up and want to mix with different people so that means ditching Tally and join the circle of Bullies that pick on her for being different and want nothing to do with her when all she wants is a Friend to talk to and support her. This is an intense read and when Tally was hit with anxiety and the meltdown when she was overloaded, I just wanted to run through the pages and wrap her in a hug to calm her down as it was clear that despite the diagnosis her Parents and sister where still learning to come to terms with the unique way that Tally interacts and process the world around her. The way her Parents treat here for me was super unhelpful and was not helping the situation at all and at times I think that is made the situations worse, when they could have been way more helpful and supportive especially her dad and Sister. The Main Takeaway message from this book is the masking that Autistic people must do to just exist in the world around us and the fight with ourselves when we want to fit in. This is a Book that I think all Autistic People need to read but not only that but the people that want to learn some of the things we go through; Thanks to Tally’s diary entries she wants to help others understand how she sees the world and how people can help. It’s clear that this 12-year Author is talented and I’m glad that she has been given the chance to create this book to help others. A Book I’m going to Treasure.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

10000000000/10

I would rate this book 20/10 (if it was possible). It was the first book I've read this year in under 24 hours. It made me laugh and cry. It is defiantly one of my favourites. I love this type of book but this one was even better because it was about someone not far off my age going through something I went through not long ago. Tally taught me new things about autism and showed it in a different light. Tally shares many of my fears but they are harder for Tally to deal with. I understand why Tally didn't want to tell people about her autism. People are really ignorant. I look forward to reading the next one in the series.