Autistic characters in books

Autism in books

There is a growing number of autistic characters found in popular movies, television and fiction. These characters are of varying realism and accuracy in their representation of autistic children. The goal of the piece and its target audience affects the character.

Fortune on the Spectrum is a work of fiction in which the main character lives and succeeds on the autism spectrum.  Being autistic is both a help and a hindrance to his life covering birth to young adulthood.
When it comes to characters in books and other fictional media, the experience of the writers will vary a great deal. In my case autism is something that I am deeply familiar with and integrate into my novels.  Of course there are artistic liberties taken along with autistic liberties.


Mark Ferdinand lives on the South Texas coast with his wife, daughter and son. Fishing the surf, hunting, gardening, carving, auto and home repair occupy his spare time. He has written on the topic of autism spectrum disorder from a father’s perspective in parenting articles and in other non-fiction venues. Having limited typical communication skills, his son introduced Mark to new ways of interpreting his special needs and aspirations. As his son grew older Mark became fascinated by the story potential within these amazing children. This prompted the creation of a dynamic adventure story focusing on a character with autism. Corpus Christi author and Texas author Mark Ferdinand. Mark writes novels with autistic characters, and Texas fiction.
New non-fiction title “You’re Gonna’ Get Bit!  coming soon. For those like the creepy crawly reptiles and amphibians. Fun tales from amateur fun to professional pitfalls.

Mark’s titles are available in both paperback and Kindle on Amazon. Visit his Amazon author bio page here: Mark Ferdinand

Autism and Christmas

Autism and Christmas

The closer we get to Christmas, and the older he gets, the more involved he becomes. He starts asking about when our tree will be up, what colored lights will be on the tree, and how much time off will he get. If we try to skip anything (like outdoor lights for example) he now knows to call us on our slacking.  Autism and Christmas promises to be interesting this year!

More than any other holiday or occasion, my son loves Christmas. He is just like me this way. It is more than just the presents that he loves, there are so many surrounding factors as many of us know.
These days it begins after Halloween when we visit the big box stores. The Christmas decorations are on full display in the blink of an eye and he knows that the time has begun.

This is the beginning of all the sights and sounds that he loves. The beginning of lights, fake snowmen, bells and commercials on TV. After Thanksgiving, things really start to kick in!

This holiday season has run rife with inconsistency and deviations from tradition. We have already changed the routine with Thanksgiving this year. We told the grandparents we would visit them for Christmas so they skipped Thanksgiving at our house for the first time in twelve years.

Now we will be traveling and not spending Christmas in the home. We shall see what happens!

Mark Ferdinand is the writer of the adventure novel "Fortune on the Spectrum".  He lives on the South Texas coast with his wife, daughter and son. Fishing the surf, hunting, gardening, tiki-carving, and repairs occupy his spare time. He has written on the topic of autism spectrum disorder from a father's perspective in parenting articles and in other non-fiction venues. Having limited typical communication skills, his son introduced Mark to new ways of interpreting his needs and aspirations. As his son grew older Mark became fascinated by the story potential within these amazing children. This prompted the creation of a dynamic adventure story focusing on a character with autism.
After completing his first novel, Fortune on the Spectrum, he decided to compile a group of lifetime stories that brought him to the unusual occupation of snake venom extraction called You're Gonna' Get Bit!: Harrowing Tales of Herpetology.

Books by Mark Ferdinand are available here:

Amazon Page

iTunes

Google Play