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| Lee & Low Books, 2024 |
Take a quick look at the jacket cover of this new picture book, then take a closer look. What struck me first was the celebratory elements, ranging from the bright white background to the vibrant strokes in those waves of colorful rainbow swirls, forming an infinity symbol behind those luminous faces. Throughout, diverse ages, backgrounds, and actions are revealed, emphasizing the "infinity" of folks for whom this book is meant. Flip the book over to the back jacket to find even more of that jubilant imagery and energy. FLAP YOUR HANDS: A Celebration of Stimming, is written and illustrated by Steve Asbell. I can't thank him enough. You might want to do that, too, once you've read it and shared it, especially with parents, kids, and teachers.
The title page reveals the symbolic meaning of those colorful waves of life, suggesting active, engaged, and interacting hands. Hands that are not being stilled or scolded. In fact, the subtitle makes it clear that this is a direct address to what we ALL see, in youth and sometimes adults: "STIMMING". Despite the positivity and association of those images to get us onto the first double-page spread, the opening launches readers into what can be, for some, harsh and challenging situations that they encounter in everyday life. The text does not shy away from harshness. Words like "overwhelmed" and "too much to bear" are followed by another spread of the feelings these generate- "bubbling over", edging out of control. The distress builds quickly, but a visual hint of responses is provided along with the word "stim", a verb you may not know, but should.
On the very next page-turn, that colorful swirl background fills the page, where thoughtful but mildly distressed eyes begin to refocus on their own fingers tickling the visual, stimulus-rich field before those eyes to reframe as sparkling lights. With each page after, the spreads immerse young people within a scene that suggests sounds, lights, activity, crowding, sudden changes, etc. can be self-regulated through finger-flips before eyes or ears, by kicking or bouncing feet, arm waves, tapping or rubbing palms or wrists or other body parts, making repetitive sounds, etc. There are more pages, each featuring young folks regaining control of their reactions within stressful settings through text and images, rebalancing white space and color in the background.
Text is minimal but powerfully direct and accessible to readers of any age, but especially so to school age individuals and groups. These directly connect to examples from daily situations, in school and out. Images are large and clear enough to more easily recognize and interpret. Those messages alone make this a valuable and necessary book. Steve Asbell, professionally diagnosed as autistic or "on the spectrum" as an adult, is also the creator of a comic strip, STIMMY THE CAT.
This new picture book has gained welcome and worthy media attention's in which the creator reveals WHY the book does not end here. In the remaining pages the text challenges every reader, of any age and any level of reactivity to overstimulation to TRY STIMMING! As a kid who attended a very traditional school, my legs were always crossed under my desk, and my foot bobbed constantly. I also chewed my finger nails WAAY past the time of this being just a bad habit, rocked in my chair, chewed my pencils, and other such repetitive activity. From year to year, various teachers asserted different levels of intervention efforts to get me to "sit still", always making note of a need to improve on my otherwise rather good report cards. Sitting in a church pew was an even more likely location at which I might have my hands held or be moved to sit next to the teacher or parent with a hand as needed.
Pause now, adult readers, to recall substitutions for stimming you know of in smoking or vaping, knuckle cracking, that ubiquitous foot-bobbing, pen-clicking, desk tapping, and countless other techniques that many (most of us) use while trying to be productive or maintain self-regulation of stress or emotional reactions. The past years of work-at-home have allowed us to explore and utilize practical and potentially life-improving self-regulation to manage the perfectly normal responses we all get with siting, standing, working situations, especially overly-long ones.
What concerns me so much is what still happens to young people (and people of many ages) in schools and other "managed" situations. As a life-long education professional, much of my training and practice, in mainstream classrooms but especially in classes involving kids with these patterns, involved endless efforts made to reduce stimming. Substitutions (squeeze balls, rocker chairs, etc.) were used as valuable accommodations, and often were effective in allowing learners to remain among full populations of peers without being seen as "different". With that in mind, I provided Hacky-Sack type hand-squeeze toys for every child in my classes, also with a discussion of varying needs and ways we can self-advocate for our own adaptations and regulations under stress. Overall, though, my objective was to minimize or eliminate visible stimming responses.
This new books offers an overdue paradigm shift for us all. Everyone, every age, exists somewhere on a spectrum of reactivity to stimulus. For some, centering and isolating is effective, for others, simply noticing and enjoying the shifts in our environment are sufficient. But for so many others, SOOOO many others, overstimulation, stress, extended periods of focus, sudden change, or triggers we may not be able to label can be recognized (by adults as needed, but by the individuals, if assisted in self-awareness) and dealt with in ways that are harmless and can, in fact, be celebratory.
At a recent NCTE Conference session, author/illustrator Kaz Windess shared her recent (Caldecott Honors and CYBILS AWARD WINNING) Ready-to-Read Graphics Reader, WORM AND CATERPILLAR ARE FRIENDS, reviewed here. The story itself is a celebration of friendships and acceptance and differences, but so is Kaz Widness. She, too, self-identifies as being on the spectrum. This vibrant and entertaining speaker addressed stimming during the first few minutes of her introduction, then flapped for a few minutes. She then ducked behind the podium, reappeared and said she had ever spoken of it or "flapped" in that role before and the crowd cheered. Many of us flapped right with her. It was truly a celebratory experience. Then came this wonderful new book that invites us all to join the mind-shift she displayed and recognize that the spectrum we are ALL on is the HUUMAN one.
