Books on Autism

Beverley 'Bev' Brenna is an elementary school teacher in rural and urban settings, who has worked as a co-ordinator of gifted programs, and been a reading specialist and special education teacher as well as a special education consultant.

Bev has written a trilogy following the adventures of Taylor Jane Simon, an eighteen-year-old girl with Asperger's Syndrome who has a refreshingly different view of the people she encounters and the life she wants to have.

Young adult readers will identify with Taylor's struggle for independence and self-control, and empathize as she outlines the ways-both positive and negative-- that her Asperger's Syndrome affects her daily life. Taylor explores a fear of solitary existence while reaching out to a world at times perplexing. Most important, Taylor wants to be seen as an individual, not as a stereotypical "person with special needs, " or a rare wild flower-images that haunt her from the past.

All three books have won awards on their own merit, including The White Bicycle being a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award.