Happy Release Day!
Congratulations Kathleen
on the release today of
Barely Visible!
Barely Visible: Mothering a Son Through His Misunderstood Autism by Kathleen Somers
Nonfiction, Parenting & Relationships, 312 pages
Published April 1, 2025 by She Writes Press
For any parent who has ever struggled with a child’s difficult or peculiar behavior, this candid and compelling memoir about raising a child on the spectrum offers reassurance that you are not alone—and a path forward is possible.
When your child is diagnosed with autism, a million questions come to the surface and fear sets in. The discovery that they are high functioning comes as a relief—it may enable them to disguise their shortcomings. Or it may create additional problems.
Barely Visible is not a heroic tale of a champion parent. It’s a candid memoir of one mother’s struggle with the gray space between her son appearing one way on the surface, yet being quite different beneath it. Walking that fine line between when to say something and when to bite your tongue, hoping your child can handle life on his own, requires tremendous foresight and energy. How do you convince others to “cut your child some slack” when the kid they see looks like every other kid they know? How do you explain away behavior that, at face value, looks like the result of bad parenting? And how do you prevent others from discriminating against your child once you do disclose their disability?
Chronicling a journey spanning twenty-three years, Barely Visible is a mother’s admission of guilt, for choosing to ignore her son’s diagnosis initially; acceptance of defeat, for rarely knowing the right thing to do; and an acknowledgment of love—not only for her son, but also for herself.
My thoughts about Barely Visible ~~
(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)
First lines—"Today's game was unlike the rest, so it killed me to be late."
Barely Visible was a heartbreaking, while also being uplifting, glimpse into what a family deals with when there is a diagnosis of autism. There are so many ups and downs, as well as all of the stages that family members go through as life marches onward. The author does a fantastic job of being real, describing the good days as well as the horrible days. I felt every bit of the struggle that they went through.
The author holds nothing back with her honestly about the struggles she, her husband, and her son went through and are continuing to go through. It was a hard arduous road but they learned to adapt and find out what worked for them. I am grateful for the insight that I got from reading this book as it opened my eyes to what life is like for friends of mine who are going down the same path.
I received an ARC of Barely Visible and this is my honest opinion of the book.
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A heartfelt and skillfully written memoir that stands out for its unvarnished honesty and authentic voice, Somers shows us how the ever-exhausting world of parenting is on overdrive when raising a neurodiverse child, achieving this with sharp observations and clear delivery to her readers.”—Readers’ Favorite Review
Kathleen's raw vulnerability and honest portrayal of her experience shines a light on the challenges faced by families touched by autism. A poignant must-read for its insight and authenticity."—Linda Burger, Immediate Past chair of Disability Belongs
About the author
Kathleen Somers, a debut author, holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, and works as a freelance graphic designer and copywriter. She is a passionate observer of humanity who believes in the power of connection that comes from each of us sharing our individual stories, and the importance of authenticity when doing it.
Having spent 24 years guiding her son through a disability most can’t see has not made her an authority on the topic. It’s having been the student to all that he has taught her that has brought her closer than anything ever will.
When Kathleen isn’t busy with her career as a creative, she is out on her bike finding new roads to explore, or spending time with her son, opening his eyes to everything the world has to offer, both big and small. She lives with her family in the suburbs of Philadelphia. ~ Goodreads
Connect with Kathleen
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