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Wild Orchid

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Taylor Jane Simon, 18 is facing a sea of changes. She has just graduated from secondary school; her mother's boyfriend has opened a pizza shop some 200 miles away in a small town in Canada and Taylor is expected to spend the summer in that unfamiliar town. This will be especially hard for Taylor because she has Asperger's Syndrome, which is the spectrum partner to autism.

Set in 2002, this book is written in diary format, with the dates making it easy to figure out the year in which these literary events took place.

Taylor's behavior sounds more autistic than Asperger's. She cannot stand the color yellow and sneezes when in a yellow room or confronted with yellow food and objects; she does not make eye contact; she has routines she has to live by such as everything has to be done 7 times. She insists on sitting in the 7th row in the movies; she insists on taking 7 sips of water, etc.

Some of Taylor's sensory issues were understandable. She hates loud noises; does not like the feel of certain materials and objects and eye contact is an issue. Her social ineptitude is glaring - she discloses the fact that she has Asperger's to people she does not know or know well; she misreads the responses she gets from peers; she has trouble processing information that is presented quickly. Taylor is incredibly naive; she thinks that if she does not hear from someone within a certain timeframe, that person is no longer a friend.

One thing that was easy to see from both sides was early in the book when Taylor's mother, when giving the girl gum told her to offer her some. Taylor complies and her mother turns down the offer. Taylor's bewilderment is understandable -- if told to make an offer, then why turn it down? The mother's response was also understandable -- you make the offer to someone regardless. That was a good example showing the confusion on both sides of a social issue.

Still, Taylor copes. A kind botanist hires her for the summer; he is very tolerant of her and in turn, she learns that just because someone has a bad habit, they are not a bad person. Since Paul smokes, she figures he must be bad to do something she finds abhorrent.

During the summer, Taylor develops a work ethic; learns to stand up for herself and adjust to changes made without any control or warning.

A decent book that shows how confusing social behaviors are for someone on the autism/Asperger's spectrum. Since it is a spectrum, there will be overlapping behaviors and Taylor appeared to fit right in the middle. Her meltdowns; social naivety and routines point her closer to autism. Her high verbal skills, special interests (she has a special interest in flora) and attention to minute detail are all Asperger's behaviors.

Mary Essinger's WOUNDED BIRD OF PARADISE is a good companion book to this one.

I absolutely loved this book! This text is beautifully writen. I laughed out loud several times, as well as felt sad. This is a must read!