Indianapolis – 45th Annual Autism Society National Conference July 26, 2014
The 2014 Dr. Temple Grandin Outstanding Literary Work of the Year Award was presented to author Lori DeMonia for her children’s book Leah’s Voice.
Lori lives in the Philadelphia, PA area and works in behavioral health for Home and Community Services / Chester County Intermediate Unit. She also serves as a parent consultant with PEAC – The Pennsylvania Education For All Coalition. Her articles have appeared in The Autism Spectrum Quarterly, Autism Matters, The Autism Notebook Magazine, and Spectrums. The job she is most devoted to is raising her daughter Leah, diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at age 2.
Leah’s Voice was inspired by both her daughters, the older of which has autism. Her book, Leah’s Voice, touches on the confusion and challenges a younger sibling faces having an autistic sister.
Siblings may find it difficult to explain to their friends, or feel disappointed when their friends aren’t more understanding. Leah’s Voice tells the story of two sisters facing these challenges. Through her kindness and devotion, one sister teaches by example the importance of including everyone and showing acceptance.
The Autism Society presents the Dr. Temple Grandin Literary award to any item published or copyrighted within the last five years that positively affects the life of an individual or family member impacted by autism. While being a difficult subject book, It is first a superb example of good children’s literature.
Cathy Cherry, Certified Autism Specialist & Special Needs Architect, presented the 2014 Dr. Temple Grandin Outstanding Literary Work Award of the Year to Lori DeMonia.
Lori said on receiving the award:
“…I think the real winner today is the book’s message of inclusion and acceptance.
“One of my goals when I wrote the book was to not only bring awareness to autism, but to give readers a sense of what autism looks like as well…”
The feature article about her award winning artwork and her family’s journey was entitled Leah’s World, written by her mother. Her beautiful art was incorporated into several illustrations in the book Leah’s Voice, by the illustrator Monique Turchan.
The Leah’s Voice website can be found here