The Friendship Puzzle: Helping Kids Learn About Accepting and Including Kids With Autism

by Julie L. Coe, Sondra L. Brassel (Illustrator), Jennifer Maloni (Contributor)

Mackenzie does not understand why the new boy in her class will not respond when she attempts to make friends with him.

Genres: Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Friendship

24 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2009

Reviews

[Lovell Peak · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Friendship Puzzle is a story about the interaction between and young girl named Mackenzie and one of her classmates named Dylan. Mackenzie narrates the story and describes her encounter with Dylan who has autism. The story centers on the friendship that develops between Mackenzie and Dylan once she discovers that Dylan has autism. At the beginning of the story, Mackenzie's mother describes friendship as a puzzle that must be examined to see how the pieces fit together. Mackenzie used this analogy to guide her blossoming friendship with Dylan. After discovering Dylan's condition, Mackenzie formulated ways to provide an inclusive setting for Dylan so he could play with his classmates and be apart of a team. Through this experience, Mackenzie learns about the importance of inclusion and accepting others who are different.

The genre is narrative fiction because it is told from Mackenzie's perspective. There are several examples that show the book's development appropriateness. For example, Mackenzie expresses words and phrases that children can relate to such as "It was a puzzle and I just had to figure out how the pieces fit." The book shows elements that make it a quality picture book. The story gives a clear problem that is solved through inquiring, which teaches children the importance of asking questions. For example, when Mackenzie asks her teacher about Dylan, she is able to gain understanding and brainstorm ideas that could support Dylan's social skills.

The illustrations depict an accurate idea of the events in the story because it includes landmarks like schools and soccer fields to give children an image of the plot and setting of the story, which could help them to learn visually. The book is sensitive to cultural considerations because it talks about specific challenges that children face through autism. For example, Mackenzie described Dylan's challenges of closing his ears in the lunchroom, not responding to interactions, and Dylan running off with the kids' soccer ball because he didn't know how to verbalize his desire to play soccer with them. This story helps children to understand autism and give them ideas on how to be supportive of children with autism.

[Magaly Almario · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cute book to teach children about autism, is the story of a girl who has a classmate with autism she is trying to understand why he acts in certain ways that are not like she is used to seeing about other kids. I like that the samples the book describes are ordinary behaviors a child with autism may display but to a child who does not know its uncommon for example: making funny noises, not looking at you when you say hello". The graphics are very realistic making it a great read for kids 5-7 years old (kindergarten and/or first grade). This book comes with suggested activities to implement as well as question to discuss after reading it for example: why do you think he does these things?, and how can you make some in your class feel welcome?...This books fosters acceptance and provides explanation to why someone with autism acts differently.

[Keith Mannina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really helpful book, not only for children not on the spectrum and, but also for children on the spectrum. Friendship is a hard river to cross, even for a neuro-typical children. For children that are on the higher functioning edge of the autism spectrum it can be doubly so. I love that this book explores the concept of acceptance and patience. Somethings need to be repeated, somethings are understood immediately. One thing that was glaringly missing in this book, is the concept of “masking.” It is a learned aspect of behavior that is woefully in complete. As a primer, they did a pretty good job

[Mallory White · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, because it dealt with friendships and disabilities. Being in the Special Education dual cohort at Georgia State, I believe this book is very important in a classroom. Whether it be in an inclusion classroom, or solely a special education class, this book is a must for getting along with people with disabilities. Children start their life by saying whatever is on their mind, and while seeing someone who is different than you, children tend to point it out. This book talks about how to help kids include and accept other students with disabilities especially other students with Autism. In this book Mackenzie is the girl who does not have a disability, but wants to figure out what is different about the new student Dylan. While asking her teacher, Mrs. Noonan, she gets a lot of helpful information about people with autism, and how to help them feel included and just like everyone else. At the end of the story Mackenzie realizes how hard it would be if she couldn't say things exactly how she wanted to say it and if she couldn't help making funny noises. While thinking about what she could do to help, she showed Dylan how to play soccer, and soon realized that he was really good at the game. I enjoyed this story for many reasons. Being an intern in the elementary school, I do not see the teachers really explain the differences between friendships, and if differences are ever brought up, they rarely deal with children that are disabled or in the special education program. How do you expect a young student to know what to do in this situation if you have never addressed it as a teacher. The author does a great job in showing that everyone is different, but they are all people, and everyone needs friends just like you do. The illustrator does a great job in her pictures and keeping the audience involved. This book can cause many questions and answers in your classroom. We can talk about how a student would help another student if they showed up in a wheelchair, and have them make up their own scenarios as well. This text relates to my topic because it talks about different friendships, but also dives into the subject deeper by showing friendships with disabilities and how they are just like any other friendship.

[Gigi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Navigating friendships is hard. When you are trying to develop a friendship with a child with autism, it is far more complicated. This book offers some real examples of questions children may have about children with autism at school. It also offers some realistic ways to include them in play and how to understand some of the stereotypical behaviors.