Though What I Never Said and The Island of Us are quite different books, they share something essential: both give voice, through the written word, to the thoughts, plans, and perspectives of a nonverbal autistic boy—as he himself describes autistic people who do not communicate through speech. In the first book, Federico de Rosa tells us how, after years of isolation in adolescence, he discovers the computer, which becomes his gateway to the outside world. He recounts his story, speaks of his family and his experiences, describes autism from the inside, and lets us feel his loneliness, his suffering at being unable to speak—but also his "normalcy" as an autistic person.
In The Island of Us, de Rosa imagines a tourist visit to the country of autism. He describes an ideal world for autistic people. Neurotypical visitors, guided by a silent guide, travel through an island inhabited only by autistic people. They immerse themselves in a society where schools, hospitals, entertainment, faith—everything is designed for the autistic person, where silence is an essential value, but respect for difference and inclusion are the primary goals of the society itself.
Reading this author, one is struck not only by what he has to say but by the clarity and precision of his language.
Rita Massi, 2018