Love & Autism (Kay Kerr, Macmillan)

Apart from the obvious audience—fans of the award-winning TV series Love on the Spectrum—Love & Autism by CBCA nominee Kay Kerr will also appeal to readers who like to be immersed in real-life human stories. Kerr’s first book-length work of nonfiction explores the lives of five people living with autism, from birth to adulthood. While these people are delightfully individual, they are united by qualities hard-won from years of being treated as ‘other’ in a world that views autistic people as less-than. This view is in stark contrast to the author’s aim of celebrating and validating people in the community as having their own distinct identity and culture. Seeing how the characters love and are loved from infancy to adulthood is truly engaging, but witnessing how they learn to love themselves too is even more affecting. As Kerr points out, ‘Loving yourself in a world that measures you by what you can’t do is a radical act.’ Love & Autism is also deeply informative about so much, from the extra challenges for neurodivergent people in dealing with socialising, relationships and multicultural expectations to pregnancy, menstruation and living during Covid lockdowns. The retrospective respect that Kerr—now a parent to an autistic daughter—has for her own mother is particularly moving. The author’s main wish was that her stories fill readers’ hearts. Mission accomplished. Kerr’s direct, engaging and honest voice means Love & Autism hums with a warmth that can’t be faked.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Michelle Atkins is a communications professional and published educational author. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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