“What’s Your Story?” is a guest post feature on BCBA’s blog. Indie/Self-Published authors are invited to write about their books, writing journey, creative process, inspiration, rewards and challenges of publishing, etc. They can go in whatever direction they choose. We are excited and grateful for their willingness to share, and we hope you enjoy Dana Young-Askew’s story. Go here for more WYS? posts.
My name is Dana Young-Askew, and I work in logistics by profession at an international freight forward company. I am also an Autism Author and Advocate—I’m deeply passionate about my work within the community. I was raised in Virginia Beach, VA. I moved around a bit and ultimately settled back here. My husband and I have five kids—an 11-year-old son, 7-year-old boy/girl twins, and 6-year-old boy/girl twins.
At approximately 25 months, my youngest son, Drayden, was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Once I received his diagnosis, I spent countless hours researching Autism and trying to understand more. I read countless books seeking guidance and information from other’s personal lived experiences. At this time, I started looking for books to help my other kids understand. I searched and found a handful of children’s books talking about Autism. Within that selection, I found even less where the characters in the books looked like my kids. I believe in the power of literature. After being offended and bothered, I decided to create my own book.
“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”- Toni Morrison.
I put off writing my book for years. It was always a dream for me that never went away. Numerous times ideas would come to me for the book, and I push away goal. Like many people, 2020 change my entire life. I was now working from home with much downtime and nowhere to go. This is when I started on my book. I scribbled ideas as they came to me. My children also gave me valuable input. This was priceless. Having the advantage of their lived life experiences is such an added advantage. From there I reached out to Cameron Wilson for illustrations. I told him about the project, from there he was immediately on board. He has been instrumental in my project. Cameron captured all 5 of my kids in the story. He ensured to show them in all their shades of Black and versatile hairstyles. From here my book was born, Come Meet Drayden.
Come Meet Drayden was released in September 2020. I originally was only selling on Amazon. I was able to reach many customers and learned during the process. The books continued to sell with remarkably high reviews and stars on Amazon. My local Barnes & Nobles received requests for Come Meet Drayden to be carried in stores. After having a one-on-one meeting with the store manager and other circumstances, they decided to bring a limited number of books in-store for sale. The sales were great. At this time, all Barnes & Nobles within my district, five stores, have Come Meet Drayden in store. The books also at Barnes & Noble online for purchase.
Numerous opportunities have come from me writing Come Meet Drayden. I have spoken at a college, done several podcast interviews, attended events, been invited to sit on panels, and I believe much more will come. Becoming an author has been a gateway into other avenues where my story can be heard. Most notable for me is the sense of community. Daily, I receive messages from others that constantly inspire me—parents who wish this fun picture book were accessible when their child was growing up, Autistic individuals who tell me they are happy that younger Autistic kids have this self-imagery they never did, or the siblings to a disabled person who said they wish they have a book showing them they were not the only one with a sibling that is disabled. Representation matters. People deserve to see themselves as a part of the narrative. We all want to be seen and have our stories told.
My hope is that my story can start conversations of acceptance and respect for all abilities. I want conversations to start in homes at a young age. Let us start normalizing disabilities—even more, Black and Brown disabled stories.
Come Meet Drayden (Dana Young-Askew, Cameron Wilson, Independently Published, September 3, 2020, 27 Pages)
Connect with Dana Young-Askew
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