Springtime for Autism
It’s says a lot that Tim can take a subject like autism and still make it funny. Granted, this is a serious comic; the cover isn’t lying about that. He just does an excellent job with the little moments that make up this book. Chances are that unless you have a family member with autism (or the family member of a close friend), you don’t know a whole lot more about this than I did. And this isn’t meant to be the authoritative book on autism by any means. Still, I learned plenty from this mini. In here Tim tells stories about his daughter’s eating habits at McDonalds (ice cream with sprinkles and fries), how she needs time to warm up to people before she gets at all comfortable around them, how the sound made by most lights bothers her, how he must give the exact correct answer to a question, his joy in seeing her enjoy little things or being the one to say things without prompting, maintaining the rituals, and trying to keep her from getting to frustrated at the world. It also documents a damned fine bit of parenting, although I don’t think that Tim had that in mind. If you have any interest in this subject and/or maybe want something you can show kids to help explain autism, this is an excellent place to start. I was also happy to see that Tim is still going strong (this is from 2005 but I haven’t reviewed any of his comics in ages) and has plenty of new comics up at his website. $1
