With the Light... Vol. 1: Raising an Autistic Child (WITH THE LIGHT RAISING AUTISTIC CHILD GN)

This is an instantly engaging book (based on several real-life accounts) telling the story of a mother's journey as she first discovers and then comes to terms with her son's autism. I have an autistic child and recognised almost all of the situations depicted: the feelings of guilt and helplessness and the amazing highs you can get from things most parents take for granted. It is a wonderfully honest and ultimately positive portrayal and I would recommend it to anyone, not just those with an interest in autism.

Well, as one of my friends said to me once, you can find a manga about ANYTHING! From tranvenstite space aliens that fall in love with an amoeba (if you have found something like that, inform me please), to something as rare and good as With the light. I became familiar with it through a firend who has a copy of it. I was intrigued because it's title is so simple and self explanetory, unlike many manga I have found. I was also intrigued because autism is a subject rarely, if ever, comes in the light. Most people just ignore autistic children and people. Retards they say. And so I started reading the volume. Mind you we were about to begin a session of RPG, which was delayed since when I picked this volume up, I did not wish to put it down. The story line is simple. A young woman got married with the "best" possible husband, as the japanese society sees these things, and dreams the perfect life. But her young son, Hikari (light in japanese, they love such puns, they do) doesn't stop crying. The reason is simple. He is autistic. The story progressess from there, and it is so well writen and illustrated that you get submerged in the story. I would highly recomend it to anyone out there that wants to make a meaningfull present, even to non funs.

I found this book by accident and bought it on a spur of the moment, as I have autism (though not to the degree of the characters in the book) I wondered how it would compare to my own life... I have to say, it really made me think, it made me wonder just what effect I had on my families life as I saw allot of myself within the pages. The hardships my parents must have gone through. If you wish to understand Autism without all the complicated psychology, I can't think of a book better than this.

i've read many different types of manga. but nothing as touching as this book. it about a mother raising an autistic child. If you have seen rain man you will have a better idea what autism is. This children can be very bright but can not relate to people. You really feel for the family. the mother puts her child before her husband which in the end her husband becomes a better dad and more caring towards his family. it shows how hard it is to get support from schools and how people don't have a clue what autisim is and how they presume it's the mothers fault for not looking after the child. This book has been an eye opener and the manga is so well drawn! if you like reading books about real life problems this is the book for you! even if you never manga before it's worth it for this book. please enjoy. I would love to see what other people think about this book

I first heard of this series years ago, when I first started wanting to learn more about autism. I was hesitant to read it, since I learned early on that the story is told from the POV of the mother, Sachiko. Personally, I believe it’s better to learn about autism through the perspective of autistic people. Yet, when I finally read this, I was surprised to see the story told (not entirely through words) from both Sachiko, and her son (the main character) Hikaru. I also like how it covers stages of life that are almost never shown in manga. Aside from seeing what kindergarten and grade school life is like in Japan (also rarely seen in manga) through Hikaru, I am also referring to adult and parenthood. There are thousands of manga showing what middle/high school life in Japan is like (justified since most manga readers are middle/high school age), so seeing what early life, adult life, and parent life are all like in Japan is a nice change of pace! I should also mention this before I summarize the plot, the English translation of this manga is only available in Omnibus form. In manga terminology, an omnibus is a collection of usually two or three volumes in one big volume (exactly how big, you can see in the pictures). Omnibus volumes are more preferred, since they tend to be more cost effective than individual volumes. With that out of the way... The volume starts off with the birth of the Azumas’ son, Hikaru. Everything is great so far. But as time goes on, Sachiko realizes that her son is different from the other kids in her mothers’ group. At first, she doesn’t think much of it. Then after a check-up, the pediatrician says he thinks Hikaru may be autistic. Like many parents, Sachiko doesn’t know what to make of it all (it doesn’t help that autism is shown in such a negative light at first, but you can’t expect much else since the original volumes were published in the early 2000s; and you know it’s dated when “Rain Man” is used to help explain what autism is). At first, she denies it, despite her son showing more autistic traits all the time. However, after an incident where Hikaru experiences sensory overload and as a result, has a meltdown (MAJOR issue alert: they call meltdowns “tantrums” when there is a VERY big difference between the two), she realizes she can’t deny it anymore, and, with acceptance at the ready, tries to get to know her son for who he is! Her husband, Masato, however, is not okay with this at first. His family cares about public image, and the aforementioned incident only adds to his ignorance and indifference. The parents have a huge fight, and Sachiko and Hikaru stay at her parents house for a brief while. After that, the two eventually reconcile, and raise Hikaru through acceptance and accommodation. The story goes on to show how the allistics (non-autistic allies) in Hikaru’s life meet Hikaru halfway, and shows how he meets them halfway in return. Like I said, this was originally published back in the early 2000s, when most people barely knew what autism is! Especially with how brief the tragedy narrative is (for about 1.5 episodes, if even that)! So seeing this way of thinking in such a time, is really a big deal, for the lack of better wording! I liked this so much, I am going to collect the rest of the series. Fair warning, though: this is a series that is hard to get in physical form. However, it is also available on the kindle, for about $13 per volume, which I recommend doing more so. If you don’t have a kindle, get one. Yes, even if it’s just for this series. It’s that good!

As a librarian, I recommended this series to many who had autistic family members, worked with autistic individuals, or were just interested. All found the series rang true to their own experiences despite the setting in another country. The series follows a young Japanese family from the expectation of their first child, the discovery of his autism, and their daily trials through to Junior High age (the author passed away while working on the 8th vol.). If your local library doesn’t own it, you can get it from another through inter-library loan (and maybe recommend it for purchase for your library).

Wonderful. Deserving of much greater recognition. I found a later volume of this at a library sale and used Amazon to get the others. Feels like I didn't pay enough. The visual storytelling conveys the lack of verbal communication that the autistic suffer. A must have.

This is my favorite book series, and this book was in good condition. The cover had some wear and tear, but it wasn't enough to leave the pages vulnerable, which is what really counts if you love books. And it came on a timely manner, so I was happy with that.

This is a good resource for parents with autistic children. It has enough pictures for even the most difficult of people to read.