Emily-Anne Willey

One Unique Piece Emily-Anne Willey

One Unique Piece is a charming tale of Carla (this book's illustrator), a 10 year old girl with autism and her 5th grade teacher Miss Johnson (this book's author) and their real-life experiences in Carla's first year at a brand new school. Come along with Carla, and Miss Johnson as they teach, learn, and understand autism. Watch as Carla learns how to control her emotions and observe the valuable lessons her and Miss Johnson teach everyone, whether they have autism or not, that each one is unique.

About the Author: Emily-Anne Willey, is a writer, mom, educator, and traveler. She enjoys writing stories about her experiences of 10 years in public school education. Emily-Anne created this book out of a passion for creating awareness and understanding of the students in her classroom, and school. Emily-Anne knew that this book had to be written, and after learning of Carla's skills and college education in illustration it was only natural that the 2 would create something so powerful together.

Illustrator, Carla Vidal was born in Salt Lake City in 1995, but it wouldn't be until 2 years later that she would be diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of Autism with less than 200,000 cases per year that gives patients developmental disorders in socialization and communication. Up until 5th grade, Carla would spend her school years learning in special programs. She then transferred to the charter school Navigator Pointe Academy, where she would be learning alongside mainly neurotypical children. She graduated in Graphic Design in 2016. Carla states that because of her 5th grade experience she is more resilient in keeping her life-long goal of being engaged in the arts, and adding another unique piece to the puzzle of life.