Autistic Children Help New Publisher with First Book
First out from the publisher is an entire book series about two siblings – Adrian and Super-A. On the mission of making cookies and other quite ordinary adventures, Adrian and his super-heroine sister, Super-A, will take the young readers on a safe trip together with Raily the Train into different life skills learning tales – filled with things like eggs and stove buttons. And as the reader follows the siblings on their first mission to bake macaroons, there are also many opportunities for the child to interact with the story that can be adjusted to the child’s abilities.
Autistic and ADHD children make up a growing group – now filling up one or two seats in each classroom or placed in special education. They are a huge source of future potential that should not be left untapped. And yet, not much literature is tailored for their ways of being. Since the Adrian and Super-A books are supposed to provide guidance into how to act in different situations of a child’s life, the author and publisher, Jessica Jensen, has called for help among the children themselves. More than twenty young editors between the ages of three and twelve have reviewed the first book. This includes children attending a pre-school and a school for autistic children. And since the books are best read with fingers, these children have pointed or joined Thummie the Thumb as he shows them what is right and what is wrong in the simplest way possible – thumbs up or down. Each editor has participated in making the book setup and illustrations work to their best.
Be My Rails Publishing was founded by Jessica Jensen and aims at producing children’s books that will help develop the child with autism or ADHD without compromising on a good childhood read. In that spirit, the books about Adrian and Super-A use a combination of established tools (such as Social Stories) with a number of psychologically creative characters. One of the characters that the young reader will meet is Little Miss Trigger. Although she was a last minute addition, she quickly made the favorite of the author’s own daughter. Little Miss Trigger may be a bit of a trouble-maker, but she actually represents the difficulties that the surroundings can cause a child with Autism or ADHD, such as sensory issues or visual triggers. These are aspects the author knows all too well. Jensen is the mother to a vibrant nine-year-old girl who only used to eat her veggies in the color of Homer Simpson’s skin and would have a morning meltdown every time a sock approached her feet. Jensen says the book series is written and illustrated with the purpose of helping children with an Autism Spectrum or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder to see their life through a super-heroine that they can identify with. And with this book series, Jessica Jensen has been told she is really filling a need.
Jensen has also put the upcoming book to the test at home. “My autistic daughter always makes a thumbs up now, to check that she is doing things right. And when my son should wash his hands, he will quickly turn the sink into an aquarium or pot with soap-porridge. After reading Adrian and Super-A and the steps involved in actually washing your hands, it is much easier to get my three-year-old out of the bathroom.”
Jensen, who comes from a line of teachers and published authors, has a double university degree – Science with studies in Information Technology and Social Studies with a major in Psychology. Her family tree spans across five countries, allowing her to learn several languages, so letting Adrian and Super-A go global is a natural next step. After an English and Swedish version, German or Danish books are up for candidates, and the publisher has been approached by a Chinese agent as well. Be My Rails Publishing will produce workbooks to go alongside the stories, to practice the different life skills further at home or in an educational setting. The company may also publish books to promote autism and ADHD awareness among professionals such as teachers or physicians.
The name Be My Rails is the publisher’s appeal for everybody to be the rails to all of the train-kids; to enable the world for those with autism and ADHD. These kids need their rails, a clear destination and their own time table. And they are not like the car-kids around them, who will stop quickly or just follow in a new direction. It is realizing that when we lay out the right rails for these kids, we also help them reach their full potential and they too can get to their destination. And when they do, the world has a vast resource of free-minded entrepreneurs, hands that love repetition or eyes that will work every detail to perfection. Leaving a prestigious IT-career behind her, running worldwide information management projects, the new author points out that the smartest move any IT-business can take, is to see autism as an actual merit in job applicants for software testing or data conversion. The Danish company Specialisterne is already doing this, using the characteristics of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder as competitive business advantages. Jessica Jensen would like to see more companies daring to take a collected look at what they are missing out on.
About Be My Rails Publishing: Be My Rails Publishing was founded to promote the development of children with autism and ADHD. Adrian and Super-A will be available at amazon.com early next year. For more information visit http://bemyrails.com
Media Contact: Jessica Jensen Be My Rails Publishing Bokvägen 13; SE- 47 36 S Sandby, Sweden +46 46-516 50 jessica.jensen@bemyrails.com http://BeMyRails.com/
