Rose Howard (Rain Reign)

Rose Howard is the main character in the middle grade novel Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin.

Character creation
Author Ann M. Martin worked at a school for autistic children when she was in college. She also spent a day observing at a school for autistic children specifically to research this character. Initially, she used the term "Asperger's" to describe Rose, but that had been removed from the DSM by the time she finished the book.

Other autistic characters by Martin are Susan Felder in Kristy and the Secret of Susan and James in Inside Out—though Rain Reign is her first novel written from the perspective of the autistic character.

Autism
Rose states that her official diagnosis is "high-functioning autism, which some people call Asperger's syndrome". She has a propensity for homonyms.