Love My Library

Wild Orchid- Bev Brenna

This was one of my absolute favourite reads last year. Written by Bev Brenna, who is a consultant in our division, this is the story of an 18 year old autistic girl. Taylor, not allowed to be alone for the summer, has to follow her mom to Waskesieu where Taylor’s mom will be working in her boyfriend’s pizza shop. Taylor is largely left to her own resources and is encouraged by her mom to explore on her own. Like any 18 year old, she would like to explore the possibility of having a boyfriend but doesn’t quite know how to go about it. Because she takes things very literally, there is often a great deal of humour in her responses to people and situations and there were many times where I just stopped to have a good chuckle. Taylor has just met a young man who engages her in some conversation.

“Do you want to go for a walk”? he asked from behind me.

“I am walking,” I said and kept on going, but I’m not sure if he heard me because I think I was mumbling. He didn’t follow and I heard him bounce the volleyball on the stone walk in front of the nature centre. You’re not supposed to dribble volleyballs. Basketballs are for dribbling.

I wonder if he wants to be my boyfriend. He looks like he’s a few years younger than me, but that’s okay. Everyone I went to school with was younger. That’s because I spent an extra year in Kindergarten to work on my social skills.

Those are the type of little incidents that give us a little insight into how Taylor’s mind works and of how confusing the world often seems for her. But don’t let her way of thinking make you doubt her intelligence- it’s just her perception of the world that is different and is a great way to gain some insight and empathy for the child in the autistic world.

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