Review of: My Autistic Mama by Kati Hirschy and Chloe Greenberg

My Autistic Mama by Kati Hirschy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm a 21 year old (as of writing this), afab autistic person. My family and I have known I was auDHD (among other things) since childhood, but I just got an official Autism diagnosis back in 2020/2021. Since then I've leaned much more heavily into learning about myself and others in regards to autistic identity.

As soon as I saw a video of this book on TikTok, I knew I had to have it. My mother, boyfriend's mother and sister all ended up getting me this book this past Christmas, and I was ecstatic. The art is absolutely gorgeous, it is genuinely one of the most beautifully illustrated books I've seen. The families are incredibly diverse, with people of different ethnicities, skin colors, sexualities, gender expression, body shapes, and disabilities. It's very colorful but easy on the eyes, which is important when the targeted audience are autistic people. Chloe Greenberg, the illustrator, did an incredible job.

The written content of the book is as wonderful as the art, and I could not stop smiling reading it the first time. The narrator is the child of an autistic mother, listing off things they appreciate and love about their mother's autistic identity. Some examples include issues with textures (tactile and food) and sensory experiences, autistic meltdowns, stimming, hyperfixations, and routine. There are also very short and easy to understand explanations (for both adults and kids) of what autistic and allistic mean at the very beginning. I personally love the bit about the child's safe foods being mac n cheese and chicken nuggets, which I feel is a common autistic stereotype/trope, but a hilariously true one from my observations and experiences, even for autistic adults. You can tell through the writing how much the narrator truly loves and feels loved and understood by their mother. It's an incredibly heartwarming and comforting book, and I'm being brought close to tears just writing this review for it. It's an excellent edition to the bookshelf of any family with autistic members, and is also a great resource to give young children a basic understanding of autistic people. The author, Kati Hirschy (who is an autistic adult and mother herself), did a fantastic job illuminating some of the benefits AND struggles of being autistic, and how it can bring a parent and child closer together.

This is a more personal bit, but I was overjoyed on page 1 where there is a mother who looks similar to me. It made the books hit just that much more close to home to not only see myself represented in the text, but in the art too. I'm excited to be an autistic mother someday (in the distant future, ha) and read this to my children. I hope I can foster a relationship with them as sweet and compassionate as in this lovely little book.

All in all, this is a must read for anyone in an autistic family or just interested in learning or teaching about autism. Hirschy and Greenberg knocked it out of the park with this one, and I'm patiently and hopefully waiting for the day this comes out in hardcover. I'll be deciding where to donate two of my three copies in the near future.

Kati and Chloe.. thank you.

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