Finding a voice amongst the silence


Author and illustrator Rose Robbins (@RobbinsRose) draws on her own experiences growing up – her first book, Me and My Sister, looks at her relationship with her autistic brother. Rose’s latest book, Talking is not my thing, looks at the life from the perspective of a non-verbal child, and both books show how positive relationships can develop through difficult circumstances.


ROSE went through her childhood without a diagnosis of autism, but says she “always suspected something was a bit different about me”. Despite not having a diagnosis herself, she was drawn to stories that reflected her own experiences – both personally and through her relationships with her brother, who is autistic and also non-verbal. Talking about the stories she wrote before


her first book, Me and my sister, Rose says: “My stories often had a non-verbal character in them who played a key part in the story, so I suppose I was gearing up for a more direct address of my personal experience.”


Rose says she began to think more deeply about her relationship with her brother, and the positive influence she had on him, after connecting with the charity Sibs – which helps siblings of disabled children to better understand their role family life. Rose said: “I discovered the UK charity Sibs through my old job working in a day centre for autistic adults, and it completely changed my whole attitude to my status as a sibling. Before, I hadn’t really examined my identity in relation to my brother, or that I had been or could be a powerful or positive force in his life, I loved him of course, but I always felt so guilty before, and that had made me afraid of being more active in his life. The experience of discussing this with others who knew what I had been through was empowering.” The confidence she gained from that led to Me and my sister, led indirectly to Rose’s own diagnosis of autism. She says: “I had always suspected something was a bit different about me, but previously I had put


Spring-Summer 2020


it down to just being a bit shy and weird! I think that is a very common experience in undiagnosed women to be honest. I have no idea if an earlier diagnosis would have helped, it helps now, and allows me to go easier on myself.


“I don’t regret the trial by fire that was my previous undiagnosed life, as it was a very rich experience, and I was privileged enough to make it through reasonably unscathed. I would say however that will not be the case for a lot of people, without a supportive family and accessible health and social care services, navigating the world as an undiagnosed autistic person could be treacherous.”


As the name suggests, Talking is not my


thing deals with non-verbal communication and Rose says it was important to reach out to others in order to create an authentic portrayal. She says: “For Talking is not my thing, I had to draw on some of the expertise


Rose and her brother.


of others, as well as imagining what it might be like for non-verbal child trying to make their feelings known. I have actually had to do this quite a lot in my work, and I have learned to use various assistive technology devices to aid communication. In particular, there is a scene where the main character feels the urge to go to the loo, she cannot use speech to ask to go, so she uses a ‘flashcard’. “These are usually small symbols and images on laminated card that a non- verbal person can utilise to communicate something. Young children usually start off with Flashcards as visual aids, then develop into using “Pecs Symbols” which is more of a visual language with smaller symbols and images. I also wanted to show the main character getting frustrated that she wasn’t being understood, which was pretty difficult, as there was quite a lot to fit into the book! My brother used to hate not being understood, especially as he was usually being so clear.”


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