A Nanaimo psychiatric nurse has written four children’s books that each take a different look at living with autism.
Author May Sosa said while her profession provided some experience on the subject, her nine-year-old son provided the inspiration to tackle the project from different perspectives. The books are not written chronologically and can be enjoyed either individually or collectively.
“I’ve struggled through the parenthood part of it, and the professional part of it … and the stories came out right away,” she said.
Her first book, The Bear Who Didn’t Fit: An Emotional Intelligence Book, takes a look at what society can do as a whole to be more accepting of everyone, and focuses on the concept of equality versus equity.
“Not everybody fits the same shoe,” she said. “That book, especially for a school setting, is quite important for the kids, but also the parents to know that efforts do get made.”
Sosa’s third book, The Monster and the Cub: A Book about Compassion and Understanding, highlights the “other kids in the class.” The author said she wanted to write from this perspective because very few books address what other children experience when a classmate feels overstimulated or overwhelmed, and that the book provides examples for what friends can do to provide overall support.
When the project first started, Sosa said she wrote all the characters as children, but later decided to switch to animals in order to create a bit of a separation between those reading the book and the story itself.
“That way, I feel, the children and parents have an easier time getting the message of the story, given that there’s no human attached to it,” she said.
Both The Bear Who Didn’t Fit: An Emotional Intelligence Book, and The Monster and the Cub: A Book about Compassion and Understanding, as well as Sosa’s other two books, The Dragon Without Fire: A Book About Self-Awareness and Friendship and A Smile That Lost its Shape: A Book About Friendship and Anxiety, can be purchased online at www.amazon.ca.
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mandy.moraes@nanaimobulletin.com
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