Can You See Me?

Authors: Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott

Can You See Me? is about a 12-year-old autistic girl, Tally, who like many girls has only just recently been diagnosed with autism.  Tally is also getting ready to start middle school which she’s quite nervous about, as people in middle school are not as accepting of Tally’s traits as they were in elementary school.  The only person who knows about Tally being autistic is her “best friend” Layla but, when Layla starts acting in ways that she’s never acted before, Tally starts to wonder if her “friends” are worth being friends with and if she should start being more open about her experiences as an autistic person.  While this book is aimed towards middle schoolers, it’s definitely the best fiction book about autism I’ve read so far.  Tally is a great protagonist, and because because the book is co-written by an autistic writer Tally is incredibly authentic.  I honestly related to most of her traits (though I respect Tally for “rescuing” worms I couldn’t bring myself to touch them).  Tally makes it clear throughout the book that, while she deals with self-internalized ableism at times, she’s incredibly proud of being autistic.  The book also deals with less talked about autistic traits (such as masking and demand avoidance) which I really enjoyed.  I also loved Tally’s relationship with Rupert, a grumpy older dog who happened to be disabled too (he had 3 legs).  Also, I might (shockingly to me) be in the Taylor Swift camp like Tally as, according to my music streaming services, Swift is the artist I listened to the most this year.  However, while this book might make autistic people feel seen, it might also be hard for them to read, as Tally is mistreated by the neurotypicals around her throughout the book.  Tally is called weird by several classmates, forced into a makeover by so-called “friends” and is told repeatedly by her sister that she wishes Tally could just start acting “normal” (what is normal anyway?!).  These things are not portrayed as positive in the book but it might still be hard for autistic people to read them.  Unfortunately, a lot of these things that happen to Tally frequently happen to other autistic people.  A lot of us are misunderstood by teachers, classmates and so-called “family” and “friends,” probably because a lot of our world is very ableist and anti-neurodivergent, and this needs to change.  We need to educate neurotypical people on autism and neurodivergence in general, on things like how autism is a person’s identity and shouldn’t be separated from who they are, and on how we need more neurodivergent people in the media.  I’ve seen a little bit of improvement in the media this year.  Netflix just released Heartbreak High a couple of months ago, where their autistic character is played by an actual autistic person and it’s supposedly one of the best portrayals yet; and while it’s unsure if the character is going to be autistic, another Netflix show, Heartstopper, also just cast an autistic person who is going to have a big role in later seasons.  These examples prove that things are getting a little better but we still have a long way to go.  Overall, I hope that you decide to read Can You See Me? which is a lovely, educational and sometimes even funny read.