The a Word

At five months old, Xen could pick out Winnie the Pooh characters, an early sign that Tisha Campbell's son saw the world his own way. Here the actress and comedian, known to millions from Martin and My Wife and Kids, tells the story of his autism diagnosis and everything that followed: the first shock, the maze of therapies and schools, the misconceptions she met along the way and her own sometimes chaotic efforts to fight his corner.

Campbell writes with a performer's timing and a mother's candour, finding comedy in hard days without ever making light of them. Above all it is a love letter to Xen and to what he has taught his family about patience and acceptance. For parents and carers raising a child on the spectrum, it offers honest company and hard-won practical sense.