Just think of having a child who is perpetually hidden in plain sight,” says author Barry Rudner.
This is autism.
In his powerful and poignant new book “Silent Voice,” Rudner highlights the pandemic occurrence of autism, how it can afflict any child, and, like any malady, how it robs children of their youth, impacting families and communities everywhere.
The carefully crafted verses in Rudner’s compellingly illustrated picture book vividly reveal the horror of a disease that afflicts one in 88 children: “Without favor it strikes at the playground of youth. It lays dormant in children when joy should take root,” reads an excerpt.
The book addresses the symptoms of autism, including “stimming” (repetitive motor behavior), withdrawal, and delayed oratory development, as well as autism’s devastating impact on families and the geological need to uncover its causes.
Rudner emphasizes that this can only be accomplished through increased awareness. He writes towards the book’s conclusion:
“The bridge that will span autism’s defiance, are those who will meld awareness and science.”
“In short,” he notes, “we must never retreat from hoping children afflicted with autism will recover their youth, which means we must not ever retreat from trying to determine autism’s causes.”
He comments, “I wrote this book to address the need for autism awareness but also to bring awareness to all disabilities. My nephew has cerebral palsy, and my sister and brother-in-law would do anything to see him walk, or talk, or put a spoon to his mouth. Instead, he is held captive inside a body with no motor skills.”
He adds, “There is not a parent alive who would not give anything to see their child healthy. The parents of children who fall within the spectrum of autism are no different.”
Rudner has been a writer and poet of self-esteem books for children for more than 30 years.
“Silent Voice” by Barry Rudner, illustrated by Peggy Trabalka, Nick of Time Media, Inc.; $14.99.
