Girl with autism adds colour to mother’s book about condition

Rosie King, 13, has added her drawings to illustrate her mother’s new book The Unfinished Stories.

Sharon King, 41, who has three children, published her first book The Daily Journal of Arabella Crumblestone last year, to help people understand about living with autism.

The book, which was self-published, sold 3,000 copies and was inspired by her children – Rosie, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, Daisy, 11, who has Kabuki Syndrome, and Lenny, nine, who is autistic. The latest story is about a girl called Lesley Benedict, who finds herself staying at The Nook, an unusual house that once belonged to her grandfather.

She comes across a pixie made of slime, a strange girl, who floats in her dreams at night, and an autistic ghost boy called Stephen Brown, who helps her solve the mysteries of The Nook.

Mrs King hopes the tale will appeal to boys, because 75 per cent of children with autism are male. She said: “I got lots of feedback from my first book, and it made me realise I’m not the only one, we are hearing of more and more families with more than one child who has autism.

“One of the messages I kept getting was that the book was aimed more at girls. This one is very visual, with lots of action.

“It can be read to children like my son, who is unable to speak, read or write.

“Children who are able could read it themselves or it could be given to siblings to foster a more positive feeling or make them proud.”

Artist Rosie attends a mainstream school and wants to become an actress.

She first hit the headlines in 2008 when she diagnosed her own condition as she read a book about her little brother’s condition.

Mrs King, of Wakefield, is currently working on a trilogy of children’s detective stories.