Ronnie: the autistic boy next door
These books are very dear to my heart, being based on my personal experience. There are many splendid books already written on this subject, my hope is to contribute positively to this niche genre.
I have written three books but they need an illustrator. I am hoping a very talented neurodiverse friend of mine will take this on.
Books in the series
I have written three books:
Ronnie's Cabin
Ronnie's Best Friend
Ronnie Goes to School
Others planned in the series are:
Ronnie's Mum and Dad
Ronnie Goes to the Beach
Ronnie Goes to the Shops
Ronnie's Grandma and Grandpa
Neurodiversity
There are 100 or so high confidence genes that are strongly linked to autism. When including rare variants, chromosomal differences, and weaker statistical links, scientists estimate that over 800 genes may influence autism traits. Some cases involve rare, spontaneous (de novo) genetic changes that are not inherited from parents, while others involve a combination of many common genetic variants working together (polygenic risk),
Source: U.S. National Institute of Health
Hence, even if you have never suspected you are neurodiverse, if you have a child or grandchild that is autistic, there is a strong likelihood that you passed on some of the genes that led to this. Indeed, I would go even further. If there are 800 or more potential causes of neurodiversity, it is inconceivable that we have none of these in our genetic code. So we are all neurodiverse to a greater or lesser degree. And if we accept this premise, then rather than autistic people being seen as different and separate to us, they will be seen as just like us. We are all on a spectrum.