With the Light 1

Sigh. My roommate found this, and he’s never going to let me live this one down. He STILL laughs about it, and it’s been a week.

Despite the fact that this is not a topic that the general manga target demographic… person like myself is going to pick up, I’m so glad this made it over here. One thing I read over and over again about autism is that many people are at a loss as to how to go about coping and treating autism in children. This seems like a very comprehensive guide, and while I understand that there are many forms of autism and that there are different strokes for different folks so to speak, the approaches presented here that began in infancy and continued up through second grade did a good job of explaining all about autism and how it affects basically every aspect of one’s life. It’s not for people who read manga, I guess, but I think it’s great as an introduction to autism for anyone who may be overwhelmed by the huge quantities of dry, technical information available on the subject, whether or not their dealing directly with an autistic person or not.

The one thing I didn’t like was the amount of repetition, especially of the elements earlier on in the story where the mother was blamed for her son’s bad behavior, but for the most part there was no way around it since it was meant as a refresher for people reading it in a magazine (I assume) month to month. Just part of the form, I guess.

Also, after the initial diagnosis and setup for Hikaru, there seems to be a lot of smooth sailing for the couple. I appreciate the optimistic outlook, but I feel that a much more realistic outcome would be like the friend of the mother, who could not find facilities willing to take her child, the child being outcast instead of embraced by the younger students, etc. But the happier story is much more pleasant to read, and if I had an autistic child, I would certainly prefer the pleasant scenario.

There is even another child introduced by the end of the volume! I was very surprised such a thing happened so early on. I’m kind of excited to see how the younger sibling grows up with Hikaru.

It definitely reads like a huge manual about autism, but I didn’t know much about it prior to this, and I’m very glad I read it. I’m looking forward to future volumes just so I can learn about how one continues to treat and adapt to autism throughout life. But… yes, it’s definitely meant for adults and moms… and really, not for anyone who would be reading Naruto right now, I suppose.