Around the World with Moby

​Around the World with Moby
By Muzna Kazim
Around the World with Moby is about an awesome 8-year-old-boy with autism who suffers from travel anxiety. Moby is always scared to explore new things or go on a vacation. His parents were concerned that Moby is missing out on so many new learning experiences as he likes to just stay at home and repeat the same schedule every single day. So, they decide to take him out on a short vacation to Minneapolis, Minnesota. The trip includes a 3-hour flight, a hotel-stay and exploring the city of Minneapolis. parents provide him helpful tools to work on his anxiety. These tools kept Moby stay calm and enabled him to adapt to a brief change in his daily schedule. Not to mention, visiting fun places there!

What a wonderful book that was so heartwarming. The mom in the story shows such love as we begin with preparing Moby for his trip by getting him used to the calendar to mark off when the trip is happening. Mom reads a story about plane rides to help ease Moby into what is going to happen. They do all kinds of amazing things to help prepare. Moby learns all about the Mall of America and he is excited to see it. We finally get to see the journey Moby goes on with the help of a color schedule and a choice board that he can choose an activity to do on the plane to pass the time. The family gets to the Mall of America and Moby gets to go on a ride. He has some trouble sleeping that night but mom calms him down with pictures of home. They get to go to a park where Moby asks lots of questions because he craves knowledge. This is just a wonderful story and a very good choice for teachers, I think, to read to children to help kids understand people with autism better. This story gives real situations that occur with people with autism. ​

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About the Author: 
My name is Muzna Kazim. I am an  emerging author from San Diego, California . I acquired my Doctor of Dental Surgery from Pakistan in 2008 and completed my Master’s in Public Health from National University, San Diego, in 2016. I majored in Health Promotion with a comprehensive research study in Autism Spectrum. I also worked as a Behavior Interventionist for kids on the spectrum. Being an autism mom, I feel passionate about autism. I advocate inclusivity and equal opportunities for kids on the spectrum. I believe that by tailoring our way of teaching according to their individual needs, we can help them Learn, Leap, and Grow.

Why I Created Moby? 
Being on the autism spectrum, my son has interests quite different from those of his peers. He is fascinated by elevators and recycling trucks and prefers to have a daily routine to stay organized. This inspired me to create a fun-loving and spirited character who had similar interests as my son and also faced similar challenges.  Moby is a character my son can identify with, reassuring him that it's okay to be different. 
I hope other kids on the spectrum can also identify with Moby, and the parents can find strategies described in this book to address Moby's specific needs handy.