With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child, vol. 1...

[fajrdrako]

One of my random interests is autism, and I've read numerous books on the subject, most of them written by parents detailing their experiences in trying to raise an autistic child. This book is about exactly that, but it's different for two reasons. One, it's Japanese; most of the books I've read have been about English or American children. Two, it's a manga.

The story reads like autobiography, but it's a fictional account (based on reality) of a young woman, Sachiko Azuma, with a new baby, a boy named Hikaru. Her husband is mildly workaholic and can't help her much: he's concerned only because the baby cries all night, every night, and keeps him awake. Sachiko is distressed because her baby hates to be held or touched, won't look at her, and seems to never be happy - prone to tantrums that go on for hours, and frequent anxiety attacks. Neighbours gossip that Sachiko is abusing the baby. Sachiko's mother-in-law thinks she's lazy and careless. Sachiko is increasingly depressed, isolated, and exhausted.

But things get better when the baby is diagnosed as autistic; after a period of difficulty, learning, and denial, Hikaru's father Masoto changes his priorities. Family and neighbours struggle to understand how and why the child is so very different, while Sachiko and Masoto try, with unending trial and error, to discover Hikaru's needs and help him meet them.

So the point of the manga is educational: what autism is like and how to deal with it. But the strength of the story isn't in the plot, but the evocation of feelings. The scene that got to me was when, after several years of Sachiko despairing that Hikaru would ever call her "Mommy" or touch her in affection, Hikaru sees her crying and picks some flowers to put at her feet to comfort her.

The story is divided according to Hikaru's age and situation. First, babyhood and preschool. Then they find a good day care centre, where Hikaru is happy; after many difficulties, a decent school for him to attend. There are high points of action when Hikaru slips away and gets lost, or when he climbs onto to a roof with a friend and it takes the fire department to get the children down.

Towards the end of the book, Hikaru's father works for a company that uses technology to help people: designing, for instance, a timer that isn't on a dial, so Hikaru can see, with a series of lit dots, how much time has passed for a certain task, and how much time he has left - making a huge different in Hikaru's ability to cope. Because he can't remember words, they take photos of things he needs to know, and put them on tags on a string around his neck, and they can use them to show him who and what they are talking about. It is clear that by the age of five or so, Hikaru can read much better than he can talk or understand speech.

One point that comes across is that Hikaru needs a whole community to function: enlightened social services, realtives, neighbours, family. And still it's a struggle for the Azuma family to find what they need - a school that will take him, teachers who will consider what he needs. Since they do find these things, and Hikaru is seen as thriving and even happy by the end of volume 1, I couldn't help wondering if there wasn't something a little over-optimistic about the tone. It could all have been so much worse, and in many cases, must be. For instance, the other kids like Hikaru, and are nice to him: no bullying or ostracizing him. This is possibly due to the diligence of the teachers, and it would be nice to think it is a typical case - but is it?

One of the most interesting psychological angles was Sachiko's feelings about other mothers of young children around her. As her child became so obviously different, she felt oversensitive to their reactions, angry with their comments and lack of understanding, hurt by their judgements. Then eventually she realized that the problem is not primarily in their, but in her: she was jealous of them. Once she realized that, their sympathy or hostility was easy to handle.

Towards the end of the book, Sachiko has another baby, Kanon. Hikaru and Kanon fight, since the baby has no consideration of Hikaru's situation or needs, and he has no ability to tolerate a crying baby. But they come to a sort of state of truce, and one of the last images of the book is an endearing scene of Hikaru sleeping with one arm draped protectively over his sleeping sister.

Comments

[nina-ds.livejournal.com]

What a fascinating idea. Just from the cover, the style seems almost Beardsleyesque. It doesn't look like "regular" manga to me, which is often very hard-edged.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I think there's actually a lot of variation in manga styles. I'm no very good at recognizing manga artists yet. Clamp, Ryoiki Iegami, Yasuko Aoike - I think maybe they are the only ones I can name! A few favourites.