Transcript

ILONA:

Iris Grace is a very gifted child. Her paintings have attracted public interest all over the world. And as a parent, what would you say are the advantages and pitfalls of having a child on the autism spectrum with such gifts?

ARABELLA:

Well, the advantages are that our story has been able to reach so many parents. I mean, the emails and letters I get, they just make me cry. They're so beautiful.

And it has meant a lot to families to read a story of hope, to read a story that I encourage Iris's autism in a way that I don't try and make her something else that she's-- I don't try and say, all right, stop flapping your hands, stop dancing around on tiptoes. I encourage her to do what she needs to do. And I will always do that.

And I think the pitfalls-- I worry that maybe it makes her so out on a limb. It means that people think, oh, well, it's OK for Iris. She's got that, but my kid isn't talented in any particular way. Or they don't see how this story can relate to them.

But I hope the more I open up about the dark times, as well as the good-- like in my book, I've really tried to make an even balance between what, say, the media sees, the kind of romantic side of it, to the reality. Iris still, now, finds some parts of life very challenging. Sleep-- it's still tough to get on some days.

So it's showing the real side of it, I think, is important. Some people always just see the prodigy child. But I would like to think that they also see a family that's just made the best of the situation and encouraged their child and seen the positives.