Not That Different

by Archana Mohan and illustrated by Aayushi Yadav

“Not That Different” by Archana Mohan and illustrated by Aayushi Yadav. Published by Bookosmia. A comic book to create awareness about neurodiversity and have an inclusive mindset.

The book starts off with a new boy joining school. The characters in the book are 10 year old children. Sara feels that their new classmate Madhav was different. Why could that be? For instance, he doesn’t greet her when he sees her. He wears headphones always. The way in which he did things were also a little different. Why could that be? What are Sara and her classmates going to find out about Madhav?

Most of the narrative is by Sara who is curious to find out why Madhav is not like the rest of her friends. The teacher clears everyone’s misconceptions about Madhav and clarifies all their doubts. She explains that he is on the autism spectrum and what that means. This is something new for the children and they are quite supportive after getting to know about Madhav. Children are inclusive by nature. Misconceptions and prejudices start getting created in their minds as they grow up. A book like this therefore helps them to keep their minds open and understand people who are having neurological problems.

My 7.5 year old enjoyed reading the comic and was curious to know about autism. He had read books in which the protagonists were physically different like Chuskit Goes to School, Why Are You Afraid To Hold My Hand?, Machher Jhol and Thukpa For All. But this was his first book on neural diversity. The fact that it is in comic format made it easy for him to grasp the concept. Also the facts about autistic people have been explained nicely in a simplified manner through familiar situations that are part of the daily lives of children. The activities which run in parallel with the story will make the children pause and think about their likes and ways of doing things. They can then easily figure out how an autistic child like Madhav might be different or perhaps similar in most of the things they do. They can even discuss their opinions with their friends and help spread the idea of inclusiveness.

Recommended Age

The book is apt for children aged 7/8 and above.

Thank you Archana for writing this book and sending us the book to read :)