All My Stripes

Today’s review is another children’s book, written especially for autistic children.

All My Stripes: A Story for Children with Autism
By Shaina Rudolph & Danielle Royer, Illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin
Children’s Fiction

All My Stripes is about Zane the Zebra, who has a red, zig-zagy autism stripe on his forehead. One day, Zane comes home from school upset, and tells his mother all about his bad day. 

Zane experienced sensory issues during finger painting, and a complete sensory meltdown during a fire drill. Later in the day, he had trouble initiating a conversation with his classmates. Even though he was really excited to talk to them, he wasn’t able to get their attention and insert himself into the conversation, and they walked away without realizing he wanted to talk. Later, he became distracted in class when his teacher used a figure of speech. 

“How come all anyone sees is my autism stripe?!” cries Zane.

Zane’s mother comforts him, and carries him to a big mirror where she points out some of Zane’s other stripes. He has a pilot stripe which gives him a good sense of direction, an honesty stripe that makes him trustworthy, a curiosity stripe that allows him to learn more and more without getting bored, and a caring stripe that helps him see other kids who are hurting and stand up for them.

Mama tells Zane that she loves him with all of his stripes, because if any were missing, he wouldn’t be the same kid. By the end of the story, Zane has begun to appreciate all of his stripes too.

There are so many positives about this book that I am excited to share:

• It is probably the most accurate fictional version of an autistic child I have read to date. Zane’s differences aren’t quickly painted over as “antisocial” or “quirky”. The book takes the time to show Zane displaying genuine characteristics of autism, such as sensory sensitivity, and experiencing some of the challenges these characteristics can cause.

• Zane’s caring stripe is a breath of fresh air! A pervasive misconception about autism is that autistic individuals do not experience empathy. This is false. Many autistic people are very empathetic, and feel others’ emotions very strongly. They can often read the emotions in a room better than anyone else. I love that this story gave Zane a caring stripe that causes him to empathize with others and stand up to bullies. This emotional perception, and a strong sense of justice to go along with it, is what makes so many autistic people wonderful advocates.

• Zane’s mother is a fantastic example of good parenting. She actively listens to Zane and validates all of his feelings as he vents, without trying to argue or change his perception right away. It’s not until Zane has finished expressing himself and she has comforted him with a big hug that she gently begins to point out his other stripes, and helps him see things from a different perspective.

• I like that Zane was allowed to do an alternate assignment in class, which was just a little different from his classmates’. Accommodations are important!

• I love that this book shows Zane wanting to be social and to engage with his friends. While he struggles with this, the desire to socialize is there. This is a more accurate picture of many autistics (wanting to engage, but lacking in the correct language skills or social skills to do so), than the “antisocial” stereotype.

• There is an end reading guide for parents at the back of the book, which includes an explanation of the situations Zane faces in the story, signs of autism to look for in your own children, and a guide to supporting an autistic child. 

There are three things that are potentially upsetting about this book, that I’ll warn you of:

• This book uses person-first language. It is written and published by a psychology association, and health care providers are trained to use person-first language.

• This book describes an upsetting, (but unfortunately, not an uncommon) situation. When Zane had his sensory meltdown during the fire drill, he panicked and hid under his desk… and his entire class and his teacher evacuated and forgot him there! I wish I could say that this is just fiction, but sadly, these things happen often. They are traumatic to experience, and terrifying to imagine your child experiencing, so I just wanted to fore-warn your emotions.

• In the end guide written for parents, the first recommendation given for autism “treatment” is ABA Therapy. Explaining what that is and why it can be troublesome to many autistic individuals is too big of a topic to get into today, but if you know, you know. ABA Therapy is controversial, and many adults on the spectrum who grew up in ABA Therapy are speaking out about its shortcomings and abuses.

The biggest strike against this book is the ABA recommendation. If that were out of the equation, I could honestly say that this is the best children’s book about autism that I’ve read. I really love Zane and his many stripes, and I think this is a great book about self acceptance for autistic kids. Since my biggest issue is with the parent guide, I think I can comfortably say that I recommend the children’s story portion of this book as a read-aloud for your autistic children and students.

© 2023 Ashley Lilley – First time commenting? Please read my Comment Policy.

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