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A review by shonaningyo
With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child Vol.1 by Keiko Tobe
5.0
A beautiful manga, a beautiful, sad, heart-wrenching, but with-a-glimmer-of-hope-story.
It is about a mother in Japan who gives birth to a boy named Hikaru. She is initially overjoyed that she has a bundle of joy to take care of, but soon he grows up and by toddler years she realizes there's something amiss. He screams and cries whenever she tries to hold him, he doesn't speak, he goes crazy and has a tantrum/crying fit whenever something really loud goes off (a bell, a slam of the door). She is branded as a terrible mother by her mother-in-law, and she is even told that Hikaru is deaf and will never be able to speak. Just as soon as she gives up hope that Hikaru will ever function right, she meets a doctor who diagnoses him with autism, then a practically unknown and obscure mental illness back in the 1990s, which I believe is the rough estimate of when this takes place, at least the last 90s.
There the door opens to counselors and other doctors who help her with the seemingly alien habits, mannerisms, and personality that Hikaru possesses, along with trying to steer her in the right direction when dealing with Hikaru, the best ways to nudge him in the right direction, and give her support and reassurance that 1) It is not her fault he's autistic 2) It will get better and 3) He will be able to function, just give it time and patience.
As a person with Asperger's Syndrome, what some call high-functioning and some call a 'mild form' of the mental disorder, my heart went out to both Hikaru and his mother. His mother because I understand that as a child I was pretty crazy. I hated change and would scream and cry when I didn't do what I thought was to be done i.e. 'I should've been the one to close the door! Why didn't I get to close the door?! ..' and 'What do you mean, preschool is over! I played my Candyland game for 2 hours, now it's time to go to preschool!'
And I obviously connected with Hikaru like we were one and the same most of the time because I understood how crazy the world was:
Examples:
I, even to this day at 16 years of age (as this is being typed), will shed a tear when I'm working on something and very focused and then suddenly, BAM! desk or chair gets tipped over and makes a loud noise. I am snapped out of my routine, the world is broken, if only for a second. The air is shattered by this noise, this noise that shouldn't have been made, and my senses -- my ears to be precise-- are overloaded by that sudden sound and I cry, but only for a minute before picking my self up again and resuming my work...
I also DESPISE change in routine. I need to be told ahead of time if something different will happen, like if we will be having an assembly at school instead of 7th and 8th period. I get annoyed and a little disgruntled but I used to scream and throw a tantrum because I couldn't cope with the fact that people were taking what I thought was fact and cutting and pasting something else into my daily routine. They changed it so easily, it unnerved me and made my head spin.
Anyways, enough about me. I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone who wants to learn more about autism, especially about raising an autistic child. DON'T be discouraged, potential readers, by the fact that it is a Japanese comic, or manga , and is read right-to-left. It is worth the trouble learning how to read it, and it will charm you and make you root for this family as they struggle to make a life for Hikaru despite his mental setbacks.
It is about a mother in Japan who gives birth to a boy named Hikaru. She is initially overjoyed that she has a bundle of joy to take care of, but soon he grows up and by toddler years she realizes there's something amiss. He screams and cries whenever she tries to hold him, he doesn't speak, he goes crazy and has a tantrum/crying fit whenever something really loud goes off (a bell, a slam of the door). She is branded as a terrible mother by her mother-in-law, and she is even told that Hikaru is deaf and will never be able to speak. Just as soon as she gives up hope that Hikaru will ever function right, she meets a doctor who diagnoses him with autism, then a practically unknown and obscure mental illness back in the 1990s, which I believe is the rough estimate of when this takes place, at least the last 90s.
There the door opens to counselors and other doctors who help her with the seemingly alien habits, mannerisms, and personality that Hikaru possesses, along with trying to steer her in the right direction when dealing with Hikaru, the best ways to nudge him in the right direction, and give her support and reassurance that 1) It is not her fault he's autistic 2) It will get better and 3) He will be able to function, just give it time and patience.
As a person with Asperger's Syndrome, what some call high-functioning and some call a 'mild form' of the mental disorder, my heart went out to both Hikaru and his mother. His mother because I understand that as a child I was pretty crazy. I hated change and would scream and cry when I didn't do what I thought was to be done i.e. 'I should've been the one to close the door! Why didn't I get to close the door?! ..' and 'What do you mean, preschool is over! I played my Candyland game for 2 hours, now it's time to go to preschool!'
And I obviously connected with Hikaru like we were one and the same most of the time because I understood how crazy the world was:
Examples:
I, even to this day at 16 years of age (as this is being typed), will shed a tear when I'm working on something and very focused and then suddenly, BAM! desk or chair gets tipped over and makes a loud noise. I am snapped out of my routine, the world is broken, if only for a second. The air is shattered by this noise, this noise that shouldn't have been made, and my senses -- my ears to be precise-- are overloaded by that sudden sound and I cry, but only for a minute before picking my self up again and resuming my work...
I also DESPISE change in routine. I need to be told ahead of time if something different will happen, like if we will be having an assembly at school instead of 7th and 8th period. I get annoyed and a little disgruntled but I used to scream and throw a tantrum because I couldn't cope with the fact that people were taking what I thought was fact and cutting and pasting something else into my daily routine. They changed it so easily, it unnerved me and made my head spin.
Anyways, enough about me. I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone who wants to learn more about autism, especially about raising an autistic child. DON'T be discouraged, potential readers, by the fact that it is a Japanese comic, or manga , and is read right-to-left. It is worth the trouble learning how to read it, and it will charm you and make you root for this family as they struggle to make a life for Hikaru despite his mental setbacks.