Local woman writes children’s book to help kids understand autism

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – A local woman authored a book to help children understand autism through reading.

Aniyah Jackson’s book, “Seeing the World Different: A Tale of Autism” is about a girl named Ari in a colorful town called Rainbowville who saw the world in a special way.

Jackson says her daughter Ari was her inspiration for writing the book.

While working at her daycare, she says that she noticed she was being treated differently.

“I noticed that when Ari would have tantrums, they would be like, ‘What’s wrong with her?’ and stuff like that. Or they would be frustrated when she tried to grab a toy or she didn’t say anything back,” Jackson shared. “It made me a little sad for her and I know that autism is hard for adults and children to understand. So I figured writing a children’s book would be the best way for kids to understand a little better.”

Jackson says she started taking notes about what was going on at daycare.

That turned into writing the book.

“The main character, her name is Ari like my daughter and she’s living her life, and she notices that the kids around her treated her differently, and she was sad about it,” Jackson explains. “There was a new kid named Alex and he embraced her differences and he made her feel special about her differences, and he helped the other kids start to see Ari in a different light.”

This is Jackson’s first book, but she says it won’t be her last.

“I plan on doing more children’s books about different disabilities, kids in wheelchairs, and different things like that because I don’t see a lot of books like that out there a lot, and I want kids without disabilities to read it so so they can be more kind and have empathy for kids with disabilities,” she says.

To readers and potential book-buyers, she shares this sentiment:

“I want you to know that all differences are beautiful and everyone should be loved equally no matter what and we should always put ourselves in other people’s shows before we judge,” Jackson says.

“Seeing the World Different: A Tale of Autism is now available on Amazon.

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