Tōku Anō Takiwā by Isobel Te Aho-White is a powerful and reflective non-fiction text that explores autism, identity, and belonging through personal narrative and illustration. The author shares her lived experience of being autistic, explaining key concepts such as neurodiversity, masking, sensory processing, and special interests in a clear, respectful, and student-accessible way.

Grounded in te ao Māori, the text introduces the concept of takiwātanga — being in one’s own time and place — encouraging readers to view difference as strength rather than deficit. This text supports students to build empathy, understand diverse ways of experiencing the world, and reflect on identity, wellbeing, and acceptance.

This pack contains response activities complete with activity explainer videos for supporting teaching and learning reading strategies including:

• Skim and Scan activities
• Summarise activities
• Questioning activities
• Inference activities
• Making Connections activities
• Visualising activities

Curriculum Coverage:

English – Reading: personal voice, key ideas, vocabulary, visual features, making connections

Health and Physical Education: wellbeing, identity, empathy, inclusion, mental and emotional health

Cultural Capability: te ao Māori perspectives, identity, whānau, tūpuna

Text Type: Non-fiction / personal recount

Key words include: acceptance, ancestors, autism, autistic, behaviours, belonging, creativity, cultural identity, difference, drawing, empathy, executive functioning, family, identity, illustration, inclusion, invisible disability, lateral thinking, making connections, masking, neurodivergent, neurodiversity, sensory processing, special interests, student voice, takiwātanga, te ao Māori, tūpuna, visual memory, wellbeing, whānau.