Outskirts Press, INC.

Nikki is a lovely young woman with sparkling blue eyes. She loves to dance and swim. She loves pizza and Coke, and hates eggs and cleaning her room. Nikki is also autistic. Written with unwavering positivity, candor, and courage, Through a Glass Brightly is an uplifting memoir about Molly Romano’s adult autistic daughter. The book describes Nikki’s experiences in school, in sports, and in various therapeutic settings. It details her love of travel, her close relationships with family members and pets, her enthusiasm for art, music, and dance—and most of all, her amazing capacity for having fun. While many people are unable to see beyond the chilling label of autism, Molly paints a picture of her daughter as a whole person, and dispels certain stereotypes about autistic people—some of which have been created by exaggerated or even totally false depictions of such individuals in films over the years. These cinematic clichés still affect how autistic children and adults are perceived. In chronicling her daughter’s life, Molly hopes to spread the word, not only to parents of autistic children but to others, that a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder does not mean a life devoid of fun, happiness, and adventure.

During the first two years after Nikki's dad died, she kept asking if he could come back and visit us; I told her he could not. During the third year, she stopped asking, so I assumed she understood that death was truly final. I was wrong.. About four years after Pat died, I at long last got a cell phone. Nikki surprised me by asking if she could "talk to Daddy" on my cell. She was in awe of a mobile phone and its seeming ability to reach anyone, anywhere, any time. Evidently, she hoped its range would extend to heaven, enabling her to chat with her dad. (Cell phone companies boast they keep "raising the bar" when it comes to geographic accessibility, but I've yet to find one that has raised the bar that high!)