“SNOOPERS & SNEAKERS” BOOK COVER
As a center faculty scholar, my daughter, Sarah, would march by way of the crowded hallways carrying a pair of plastic cat ears and a selfmade signal that learn, “Don’t bully me! I’m autistic!”
Though it’s laborious for her to make associates, my 15-year-old bookworm has discovered a kindred spirit in Jane, the autistic, feline-lovin’ protagonist within the new child’s novel “Snoopers & Sneakers.” I received a kick out of it, too!
Written by native authors Cristina Rouvalis and Lydia Wayman, the story is ready in Pittsburgh, the place sixth-grade Jane kinds a friendship with Ashley, a cheerleader not too long ago exiled from the favored crowd. When their favourite instructor is arrested, they group as much as clear her identify.
Are you experiencing horrible junior excessive flashbacks but?
“It’s about illustration,” says Wayman, who’s on the spectrum. “I didn’t get to see myself in characters rather a lot. The way in which my mind works was by no means mirrored again to me.”
The 37-year-old Shaler resident was identified with autism at age 20. Academically, Wayman was means forward of her friends, however struggled socially within the overstimulating hellscape that’s public faculty.
She was studying earlier than she turned 3, bypassed eleventh grade and ultimately earned a bachelor’s diploma in elementary schooling and a grasp’s in English and nonfiction writing. Greater than a decade in the past, she started running a blog about her experiences on the spectrum, lastly giving individuals — together with her mother and father — a glimpse into her world.
Wayman now serves as an autistic advocate, growing content material for nonprofits and different organizations.
When Rouvalis, a veteran journalist and frequent contributor to Pittsburgh Journal and mom of a neurotypical daughter, started writing the novel, she realized she wanted an knowledgeable supply to assist her flesh out Jane’s character. She put the phrase out to the autistic neighborhood and acquired the next e-mail from Wayman:
“I heard you had been taken with talking with a cat-obsessed spectrumite. That will be me! I actually have a paw print tattoo on my hand. Lucy, aka the Goose, is my cat and my sidekick. I like cats as solely an autistic individual can.”
KRISTY GRAVER’S DAUGHTER, SARAH. | PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
The message not solely led to literary collaboration, however a friendship. Don’t you adore it when reality is stranger than fiction?
Simply as Rouvalis and Wayman shaped an instantaneous bond, I felt a connection to the pair after we met for espresso at Ruckus Cafe. I’ve admired Rouvalis’ work for years (plus, it’s at all times enjoyable to “discuss store” with a fellow journalist!). Wayman overtly and truthfully answered my private questions on autism, even when the sputtering sounds of the espresso machine mixed with close by chit chat created a sensory overload.
We calmed our nerves by sharing photos of our pets.
Because the mom of an autistic teen, I understand how essential it’s to encompass your self with empathetic individuals. Some issues Wayman stated had been laborious for me to listen to, others had been inspiring and gave me hope for Sarah’s future (she desires to work at a sweet manufacturing facility, a bakery or an ice cream store. All three, if potential.).
“Snoopers & Sneakers” debuts on Jan. 21. Occasions are being deliberate for Autism Acceptance Month in April, however within the meantime you’ll be able to tune right into a Fb Reside dialogue moderated by “The Pores and skin I’m In” writer Sharon Flake on Jan. 23 from 7 to eight p.m. On Jan. 25 from 2 to three:30, Rouvalis and Wayman will likely be at Spark Books in Aspinwall to signal books.
Sarah and I will likely be there — with cat ears on.
“We aren’t making an attempt to evangelise, we’re simply making an attempt to speak about acceptance,” Rouvalis says. “It’s an opportunity to stroll in another person’s sneakers.”
