An author at 7

BEN WATSON

HAPPIER NOW: Andrew Read-Percival has come a long way from when he was first diagnosed with autism.

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BEING autistic meant Andrew Read-Percival struggled to keep up with his classmates.

Now he is ahead of them. Having published a book at age seven, the Torbay youngster is far from being the child who struggled to string sentences together not so long ago.

Andrew has written and illustrated a collection of fun short stories including Super Noele which is about his pet cat becoming a superhero.

Copies of the book are being snapped up by children and schools and the book has even garnered overseas attention as proceeds are going towards raising awareness and funding for teachers to work with autistic children.

Andrew was diagnosed at age three and since then his parents Martin and Caroline have had to adjust the way they communicate with him and encourage good behaviour through positive reinforcement.

The support of their extended family has also been vital in Andrew's improvement.

''He didn't have any language other than repetitive things like 'happy birthday', even when he was going to school and his understanding wasn't much at all,'' Mrs Read- Percival says.

He had to be taught to greet others using eye contact and to listen to and respect those in authority, she says.

While the family receives a government disability allowance for Andrew, his autism was not considered bad enough for him to qualify for educational funding.

They have hired a private tutor so Andrew could attend mainstream school at Stella Maris in Silverdale.

''He would have really struggled to cope. He was 18 months behind his peers, now he's 18 months ahead. He really did work intensely,'' Mrs Read-Percival says.

She says Andrew's autistic tendency is for him to be controlling, so he would want to act as the teacher before he got assistance from his tutor Barbara Francino.

He would also suffer ''meltdowns'' where he would get angry and upset by noise in the classroom.

She says his tutor spotted ''the hidden treasures'' in Andrew, such as his creativity with writing and rewards him with the activities he loves for working hard.

''We want to get the message across to other other parents that it's possible. He's now got friends, some are in his book. And he enjoys going to school.''

Copies of Andrew's book Super Noele can be ordered from www.achieveglobal.co.nz/andrews book, and copies are available from Stella Maris School.

- © Fairfax NZ News