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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 JULY 2023 4 BOOKS This article is supported by Arts Council Malta The Colours of Autism NOWADAYS, many talk about the beau- ty of diversity among humans. But few imagine how much that same diversity can be the cause of much suffering, such as social exclusion, for people who are different from the majority. People with the condition of autism have particular characteristics that also make them different from the rest of soci- ety. The book Kuluri tal-Awtizmu will be showing the various colors of autism, to help us better understand this difference. The contribution of experts in the book, as well as parents of children who have autism, and even individuals who have autism, will be crucial to help us under- stand what is behind this difference. Autism is a condition that a person is born with. Thus, the idea that the person can catch autism later in the years is not a correct one. Research shows that when the baby and its brain are forming in the womb, something happens that causes this condition of autism. This indicates that a person with autism has their brain which is made differently from that of the typical population. As a result, her experience in life is different and can be much more difficult as well. Apart from that, as a condition, Autism will remain there in the life of the indi- vidual and therefore we call it a condition because it is conditioning the lives of indi- viduals with autism due to these difficul- ties that we have mentioned. The book 'The Colors of Autism', which has just been published, is the first book in Maltese that goes into detail about au- tism, a condition related to brain devel- opment that directly affects perception and the way a person socializes with other people. The condition may include limits in certain behavior, which may lead to re- petitive actions. The book presents the various aspects of autism, to help the reader better under- stand this reality. It contains 13 chapters with the par- ticipation of experts in autism as well as parents of children who have autism and even individuals who have autism them- selves. 'The Colours of Autism' is a 4sight pub- lication and is written by Dr Yanika At- tard and Melvin Attard with illustrations by Gorg Mallia.