Autistic Experience
By The Autistic Advocate
Autistic Experience
By The Autistic Advocate
Making Space for Autism: Strategies for assessing and modifying environments to meet the needs of autistic people
Caolan McCarthy, Sharon McCarthy, et al.
£57.50
A Perfectly Weird Guide to Being Perfectly You: Growing Up Autistic and Happy
Camilla Pang
£9.99 £9.49Understand neurodiversity and discover how scientific concepts can help you navigate everyday human interactions, and grow up to be your HAPPIEST YOU! As a child, Camilla loved patterns and putting things in order. She was obsessed with Stephen Hawking, and the only language she really understood was science. Diagnosed with autism aged 8, Camilla saw the world very differently. But with science as her sidekick, she was able to translate ideas she could understand, such as photosynthesis and algorithms, onto things she couldn't, such as dealing with emotions and finding your voice. In this unique and brilliant book, Camilla shares her scientific survival guide to growing up, helping neurodiverse young readers navigate the world around them, giving them the courage to grow up perfectly happy in who they are.
Thumbsucker: An illustrated journey through an undiagnosed autistic childhood
ELIZA FRICKER
£15.99Spoilt. Weirdo. Fussy. Hypochondriac. Chatterbox. Eliza spent her childhood being told she was all of these until her autism diagnosis as an adult revealed why she had experienced the world so differently. But what does it mean to grow up knowing you are different, misunderstood, 'difficult'? Funny, witty and tender, Sunday Times bestselling author and illustrator Eliza Fricker, uses her own memories of growing up in the 80s to explore how neurodiversity presents itself in everyday life and what neurodivergent children really need from the people who love them.
Narrating the Many Autisms: Identity, Agency, Mattering
UK) Stenning Anna (University of Worcester
£135.00Autism is a profoundly contested idea. The focus of this book is not what autism is or what autistic people are, but rather, it grapples with the central question: what does it take for autistic people to participate in a shared world as equals with other people? Drawing from her close reading of a range of texts and narratives, by autistic authors, filmmakers, bloggers, and academics, Anna Stenning highlights the creativity and imagination in these accounts and also considers the possibilities that emerge when the unexpected and novel aspects of experience are attended to and afforded their due space. Approaching these narrative accounts in the context of both the Anthropocene and neoliberalism, Stenning unpacks and reframes understandings about autism and identity, agency and mattering, across sections exploring autistic intelligibility, autistic sensibility, and community-oriented collaboration and care. By moving away from the non-autistic stories about autism that have, over time, dominated public conception of the autistic experience and relationships, as well as the cognitive and psychoanalytic paradigms that have reduced autism and autistic people to a homogeneous group, the book instead reveals the multiplicity of autistic subjectivities and their subsequent understandings of well-being and vulnerability. It calls on readers to listen to what autistic people have to say about the possibilities of resistance and solidarity against intersecting currents and eddies of power, which endanger all who challenge the neoliberal conception of Life. A stirring and meaningful departure from atomized accounts of neurological difference, Narrating the Many Autisms ponders big questions about its topic and finds clarity and meaning in the sense-making practices of autistic individuals and groups. It will appeal to scholarly readers across the fields of disability studies, the medical humanities, cultural studies, critical psychology, sociology, anthropology, and literature.
The Awesome Autistic Guide to Being Proud: Feeling Good About Who You Are
Yenn Purkis and Tanya Masterman
£14.99
The Awesome Autistic Guide to Other Humans: Relationships with Friends and Family
Yenn Purkis and Tanya Masterman
£14.99
The Awesome Autistic Guide to Feelings and Emotions: Finding Your Comfort Zone
Tanya Masterman and Yenn Purkis
£14.99
Girl Unmasked: The Sunday Times Bestseller: How Uncovering My Autism Saved My Life
Emily Katy
£18.99 £18.04
Armchair Conversations on Love and Autism: Secrets of Happy Neurodiverse Couples
Eva A. Mendes
£16.99
The #ActuallyAutistic Guide to Building Independence: A Handbook for Teens, Young Adults, and Those Who Care About Them
Jenna Gensic and Jennifer Brunton
£15.99
The Subtle Spectrum: An Honest Account of Autistic Discovery, Relationships and Identity
Joanna Grace
£18.99Am I autistic, or is autism something I suffer from? Should I come out, to my friends, to my family, to the people I work with? Should I drop the mask? How can I explain my experience to a neurotypical world? The Subtle Spectrum offers an exploration into the postdiagnostic landscape of autism and the transformative journey of one woman, from her awareness of difference, through acceptance, to an embracing of autistic identity and beyond as she questions the cultural identity of autism. Joanna’s narrative is enriched with insights from a range of diverse contributors, creating a reflective opportunity for people to gain a better understanding of the experience of being autistic. With a focus on relationships built across a neurodiverse divide, the book considers topics as broad as mental health, work opportunities and abuse, weaving theory and research with lived experience to give true insight into the life of an autistic person, both pre- and post- diagnosis. Written with a raw and engaging honesty, this is a crucial read for anybody who identifies as autistic as an adult or teenager, or anyone looking to support somebody exploring diagnosis. It will also provide an invaluable insight for social workers, educators and relationships counsellors working with autistic people.
Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight: A young man's voice from the silence of autism
Naoki Higashida
£10.99 £10.44Naoki Higashida met international success with THE REASON I JUMP, a revelatory account of life as a thirteen-year-old with non-verbal autism. Now he offers an equally illuminating insight into autism from his perspective as a young adult. In concise, engaging pieces, he shares his thoughts and feelings on a broad menu of topics ranging from school experiences to family relationships, the exhilaration of travel to the difficulties of speech. Aware of how mystifying his behaviour can appear to others, Higashida describes the effect on him of such commonplace things as a sudden change of plan, or the mental steps he has to take simply to register that it’s raining. Throughout, his aim is to foster a better understanding of autism and to encourage those with disabilities to be seen as people, not as problems.
The Guide to Good Mental Health on the Autism Spectrum
Yenn Purkis, Jane Nugent, et al.
£16.99Filled with strategies and advice, this empowering guide presents practical ways to improve the mental wellbeing of people on the Autism Spectrum. This helpful guide focusses on the specific difficulties that can arise for people on the autism spectrum who may also experience a mental illness. The book includes information on common mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, as well as strategies for improving sleep patterns and mindfulness. Providing guidance on the benefits and drawbacks of therapy pets, medication, and psychotherapy, the authors offer balanced perspectives on treatment options and introduce self-help strategies tailored to meet your needs and improve your mental wellbeing. A number of short personal narratives from people on the autism spectrum and mental health issues illustrate the text. The book also includes a list of resources, books and organisations that can provide further support and inspiration.
Understanding and Facilitating the Achievement of Autistic Potential
Dr Emma Goodall
£25.00This book will enable parents and teachers to gain an understanding of the autistic spectrum and what it is like to be a child on the autistic spectrum. The easy to implement strategies will enable parents and teachers to offer effective opportunities to autistic spectrum children to ensure those children are able to reach their potential.
Women on the Spectrum: A Handbook for Life
Emma Goodall
£27.54Have you ever had someone tell you that your social skills aren't very good? What do they mean? Do you need practical tips for applying for jobs and attending interviews? Are you moving from home for the first time? What do you need to know to best equip yourself? This book is a unique handbook on life for autistic women, written by autistic women. Its primary purpose is to enable girls and women on the autism spectrum to learn from the authors' and others' mistakes most effectively! This book is structured in a helpful question and answer format that covers a large variety of topics asked by autistic women on all walks of life. With over 120 questions and using this practical format, readers are able to dip in and out, getting the information and answers they need, when they need it without having to read an entire chapter.
I Think I Might Be Autistic: A Guide to Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis and Self-Discovery for Adults
Cynthia Kim
£9.20What if instead of being weird, shy, geeky or introverted, your brain is wired differently? For adults with undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is often an "aha!" moment--when you realize that ASD just might be the explanation for why you've always felt so different. "I Think I Might Be Autistic: A Guide to Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis and Self-Discovery for Adults" begins from that "aha!' moment, addressing the many questions that follow. What do the symptoms of ASD look like in adults? Is getting a diagnosis worth it? What does an assessment consist of and how can you prepare for it? Cynthia Kim shares the information, insights, tips, suggestions and resources she gathered as part of her own journey from "aha!" to finally being diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome in her forties. This concise guide also addresses important aspects of living with ASD as a late-diagnosed adult, including coping with the emotional impact of discovering that you're autistic and deciding who to share your diagnosis with and how.
Pretending to be Normal: Living with Asperger's Syndrome (Autism Spectrum Disorder) Expanded Edition
Liane Holliday Willey
£16.99Compelling and witty, Liane Holliday Willey's account of growing to adulthood as an undiagnosed 'Aspie' has been read by thousands of people on and off the autism spectrum since it was first published in 1999. Bringing her story up to date, including her diagnosis as an adult, and reflecting on the changes in attitude over 15 years, this expanded edition will continue to entertain (and inform) all those who would like to know a little more about how it feels to spend your life `pretending to be normal'.
The Autism Spectrum Guide to Sexuality and Relationships: Understand Yourself and Make Choices that are Right for You
Emma Goodall
£16.99Unravelling the complexities of relationships and sexuality, this straight-talking guide will help you to navigate the associated social, emotional and physical issues. Expert advice and real life examples give you the knowledge to reflect on your own sexuality, provide you with information on different types of relationship, and gives you the confidence to decide which type of relationship is right for you. Together with important information on sexual health, this book will help you to understand how to find and maintain a relationship of your choosing in a safe and enjoyable way. Exploring the often unspoken rules of sex and relationships, this book also covers often unaddressed topics, such as: · what sexual attraction looks and feels like · how to identify your own sexual identity and preferences (and how they may change) · what your rights are, and how to stay safe · having children, or choosing not to, the impact of this on relationships · how to recognise power imbalances within relationships, and what to do
I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder: A Memoir
Sarah Kurchak
£14.99 £14.24An autistic writer’s memoir of the detrimental effects of pretending to be normal, and her impassioned call to redefine what is considered a successful life. Sarah Kurchak is autistic. She hasn’t let that get in the way of pursuing her dream to become a writer, or to find love, but she has let it get in the way of being in the same room with someone chewing food loudly, and of cleaning her bathroom sink. In I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder, Kurchak examines the Byzantine steps she took to become “an autistic success story,” how the process almost ruined her life and how she is now trying to recover. Growing up undiagnosed in small-town Ontario in the eighties and nineties, Kurchak realized early that she was somehow different from her peers. She discovered an effective strategy to fend off bullying: she consciously altered nearly everything about herself―from her personality to her body language. She forced herself to wear the denim jeans that felt like being enclosed in a sandpaper iron maiden. Every day, she dragged herself through the door with an elevated pulse and a churning stomach, nearly crumbling under the effort of the performance. By the time she was finally diagnosed with autism at twenty-seven, she struggled with depression and anxiety largely caused by the same strategy she had mastered precisely. She came to wonder, were all those years of intensely pretending to be someone else really worth it? Tackling everything from autism parenting culture to love, sex, alcohol, obsessions and professional pillow fighting, Kurchak’s enlightening memoir challenges stereotypes and preconceptions about autism and considers what might really make the lives of autistic people healthier, happier and more fulfilling.
Autism in Adults
Luke Beardon
£10.99 £10.44If you've recently been diagnosed with ASD, or think you might be, or you are close to someone with ASD, one of the things you will like most about this book is the way in which it challenges the idea of autism as a 'disorder' or 'impairment'. Instead, Dr Luke Beardon will help you to reframe what you feel, and challenge what you know, about being on the spectrum. He explains how autism impacts on the individual, and what purpose a diagnosis might - or might not - serve. There is a lot of myth-busting, and dismantling of the stereotypes and clichés around ASD and areas like communication, social interaction and relationships. Practical tips for undiagnosed adults will help you navigate things like school, work, study, parenthood and even to understand what happens when autistic people break the law. Above all, this book is a celebration of what it means to be autistic - of the passion, honesty, humour, lack of ego, loyalty and trustworthiness that make you, or your loved one, such an amazing person.
Love, Partnership, or Singleton on the Autism Spectrum
£15.99
In an immensely varied and thoughtful collection of true life reflections on love, marriage and the single life, 26 authors with autism share their experiences and knowledge about successful (and unsuccessful) relationships. Digging deep into the many and varying ways in which autism affects feelings and relationships with others, these honest and intelligent testimonies give the insider's perspective on love on the spectrum. Whether you're a serial dater, hopelessly romantic or happily single, these perceptive and often funny explorations shows how to make good choices, surmount bad ones, and live a good life.
Interoception and Regulation: Teaching Skills of Body Awareness and Supporting Connection with Others
Emma Goodall and Charlotte Brownlow
£15.99There are some things that many of us take for granted - such as knowing when we are hot or cold, feel hungry, or need to go to the toilet. But how do we know these things, and why do some people struggle to recognise them? Interoception - the ability to identify and act on physical sensations inside the body - is crucial to human well-being. It underpins physical developmental milestones, such as toilet-training, as well emotional ones, such as the ability to self-regulate. Research shows that Autism often co-occurs with poor interoceptive sense. This practical and informative book demystifies interoception and provides tools to help boost interoceptive abilities. It summarises the latest research, explores how interoceptive difficulties can be identified, suggests strategies to manage feelings and emotions, and explains how to support individuals in 'tuning in' to themselves.
Fall Down 7 Times, Get Up 8: Raising and Teaching Self-Motivated Learners, K-12
www.debbiesilver.com) Silver and Author Keynote Speaker Debbie Thompson Thompson (Education Consultant
£26.99
Ten Rules for Ensuring Miscommunication When Working With Autistic People and People with Learning Disabilities: ...and Maybe Wh
£9.14
This powerful booklet aims to challenge our thinking about the way we communicate and interact with autistic people and those with learning (intellectual) disabilities. The '10 Rules' concept sets out to be deliberately provocative, by suggesting ways in which people, services and environments can unconciously create problems and obstacles for those they seek to support. Each communication 'rule' speaks powerfully with the voice of the individual on the receiving end of services and practice. Together, the 10 rules provide a useful starting point for discussion and a catalyst for action. Each is followed by suggestions for positive practice. The booklet also contains additional background information on good practice, together with references and sources of further information. The booklet can be used for a range of purposes, including staff induction, awareness training, individual professional development and reflection, and discussions regarding service development and design. It can be used by services, professionals and support workers, trainers, teachers, students and carers.
A Mismatch of Salience: Explorations from the Nature of Autism from Theory to Practice
Damian Milton
£27.54For more than a decade, Damian Milton has shared his insider views on the nature of autism. This book brings together for the first time a collection of essays and articles exploring the communication and understanding difficulties that can create barriers between people, and celebrating the diversity in our communication styles and experiences. Milton re-frames the view that people with autism represent a 'disordered other', and highlights how our current knowledge has been created by non-autistic people who are 'on the outside, looking in'. He argues that communication difficulties are not due to impairment in one party, but rather to what he terms the double empathy problem A Mismatch of Salience.
Autistic Community and the Neurodiversity Movement: Stories from the Frontline
£44.99
This open access book marks the first historical overview of the autism rights branch of the neurodiversity movement, describing the activities and rationales of key leaders in their own words since it organized into a unique community in 1992. Sandwiched by editorial chapters that include critical analysis, the book contains 19 chapters by 21 authors about the forming of the autistic community and neurodiversity movement, progress in their influence on the broader autism community and field, and their possible threshold of the advocacy establishment. The actions covered are legendary in the autistic community, including manifestos such as “Don’t Mourn for Us”, mailing lists, websites or webpages, conferences, issue campaigns, academic project and journal, a book, and advisory roles. These actions have shifted the landscape toward viewing autism in social terms of human rights and identity to accept, rather than as a medical collection of deficits and symptoms to cure.
Geek Girl
Holly Smale
£8.99 £8.54“My name is Harriet Manners, and I am a geek.” Harriet Manners knows that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear, a “jiffy” lasts 1/100th of a second, and the average person laughs 15 times per day. She knows that bats always turn left when exiting a cave and that peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite. But she doesn’t know why nobody at school seems to like her. So when Harriet is spotted by a top model agent, she grabs the chance to reinvent herself. Even if it means stealing her best friend's dream, incurring the wrath of her arch enemy Alexa, and repeatedly humiliating herself in front of impossibly handsome model Nick. Even if it means lying to the people she loves. Veering from one couture disaster to the next with the help of her overly enthusiastic father and her uber-geeky stalker, Toby, Harriet begins to realise that the world of fashion doesn't seem to like her any more than the real world did. As her old life starts to fall apart, will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything? The award-winning debut by bestselling author Holly Smale.
The Cassandra Complex: The unforgettable Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick
Holly Smale
£14.99 £14.24If you had the power to change the past... where would you start? Cassie has never really fitted in. She remembers everything. Understands nothing. And consistently says the wrong thing. So when she gets dumped, fired AND her local café runs out of banana muffins - all in one day - it feels like the end of the world. But then Cassie discovers she has the power to go back and change things. With endless chances to get it right, can she stop it all from going wrong? 'Witty, touching and totally absorbing' Graeme Simsion, author of The Rosie Project Not your average story. Not your average character. But fitting in is overrated. . . BUY THE STAND-OUT BOOK OF 2023 As featured on Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 2 Book Club, The Times & Daily Mail
Learning From Autistic Teachers: How to Be a Neurodiversity-Inclusive School
£25.99
In this strikingly honest collection, developed from a pioneering new research project, autistic teachers and other autistic school professionals share their stories of the challenges and successes of their careers. Contributors challenge assumptions and stereotypes whilst highlighting the unique strengths autistic staff can bring to schools when their own needs are accommodated. The book explores exclusion and identity, understanding and acceptance, intersectionality and facilitating inclusion. It also celebrates the positives that come with being an autistic teacher, such as relating to neurodivergent pupils and conveying passion and enthusiasm for a subject through intense interests, or demonstrating particular skills in school leadership. It examines how workplace set up can sometimes exclude autistic individuals and lead to skilled teachers and those in other education roles, including visiting professionals, leaving the profession, and sets out the accommodations that can prevent this from happening.
What I Want to Talk About: How Autistic Special Interests Shape a Life
Pete Wharmby
£15.99'This book isn't a memoir. It is a love letter to the phenomenon of autistic hyperfixation.' In What I Want to Talk About popular autism advocate Pete Wharmby takes readers on a journey through his special interests, illuminating the challenges of autistic experience along the way. Funny, revealing, celebratory and powerful in equal measure, this is a book that will resonate with many, and which should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand autism with more accuracy and empathy.
Illuminated: All the Things I’Ve Left Unsaid
Melanie Sykes
£22.00Melanie Sykes has been a face on our screens, a voice on our radios for nearly thirty years. As a presenter and broadcaster people turned to her for her humour, her honesty and insight. But between all the interviews and chat shows, is a life unseen, a story unsaid. Her journey – from up north to down south, from Manchester to LA and via London, Paris and India, and through the eye of the storm of celebrity culture is a rollercoaster ride. Sex, drugs and rock and roll, certainly, but also brass bands and ice cream vans, broken hearts and healing adventures – a search not for fame but for freedom. Her autism diagnosis in midlife has supercharged that journey – and means this isn’t a story just of breakdown, but of breakthrough. Funny, furious and gloriously frank, this is a book that lifts the lid on being a woman in the media, navigating relationships, and being a neurodivergent person speaking up in a neurotypical world. Illuminated is Melanie, in her own inimitable voice.
Understanding Autistic Relationships Across the Lifespan: Family, Friends, Lovers and Others
Felicity Sedgewick and Sarah Douglas
£31.99Understanding Autistic Relationship Across the Lifespan is an accessible overview of autistic relationships from the early years through to old age. This much-needed book combines the latest research findings with first-hand accounts to offer insight into the relationships of autistic people and how they differ to those of non-autistic people in a range of ways. Felicity Sedgewick and Sarah Douglas delve into life's stages and their challenges, revealing how navigating relationships can lead to misunderstandings, rejection, and trauma – but also to genuine connection, support, and joy. Illustrated throughout with extracts from interviews, and with extended narratives from Sarah, it explores key topics including relationships in the early years, childhood friendships, teenage friendships and romance, adult romantic and sexual relationships, LGBTQ+ relationships, finding community, family relationships, and issues in the later stages of life. The authors explore a wide range of emotions and life situations, examining the social world of autistic people and the strategies they use to navigate it. Understanding Autistic Relationship Across the Lifespan offers practical recommendations for both autistic and non-autistic people on how to have the healthiest and most satisfying relationships possible. It is essential reading for all those working with autistic people and studying autism, as well as autistic individuals and those close to them.
Neurodiversity Studies: A New Critical Paradigm
£39.99
Building on work in feminist studies, queer studies and critical race theory, this volume challenges the universality of propositions about human nature, by questioning the boundaries between predominant neurotypes and ‘others’, including dyslexics, autistics and ADHDers. This is the first work of its kind to bring cutting-edge research across disciplines to the concept of neurodiversity. It offers in-depth explorations of the themes of cure/prevention/eugenics; neurodivergent wellbeing; cross-neurotype communication; neurodiversity at work; and challenging brain-bound cognition. It analyses the role of neuro-normativity in theorising agency, and a proposal for a new alliance between the Hearing Voices Movement and neurodiversity. In doing so, we contribute to a cultural imperative to redefine what it means to be human. To this end, we propose a new field of enquiry that finds ways to support the inclusion of neurodivergent perspectives in knowledge production, and which questions the theoretical and mythological assumptions that produce the idea of the neurotypical. Working at the crossroads between sociology, critical psychology, medical humanities, critical disability studies, and critical autism studies, and sharing theoretical ground with critical race studies and critical queer studies, the proposed new field – neurodiversity studies – will be of interest to people working in all these areas. Chapter 7 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.
So, I'm Autistic: An Introduction to Autism for Young Adults and Late Teens
Sarah O'brien
£14.99'There isn't a secret manual outlining exactly how to get through your teens and young adulthood as an autistic individual, but this book provides a script for how to do what adulthood will make you do anyway, in a way that is most accessible for you". You've just received an autism diagnosis, so why do you still feel so lost when it comes to what autism actually means for you? Written by autistic advocate Sarah O'Brien, this book gives a much-needed introduction into what autism is and removes the myths, stereotypes and stigma that surround it. Sarah provides insights into what to do after diagnosis and how to approach and navigate the process of informing those in your life, from your family and friends to your teachers or manager at work. Utilising her own experience of feeling lost after diagnosis and navigating all of the 'firsts' of adolescence and young adulthood Sarah provides an honest and friendly voice to guide you through it all. Intelligent and clearly-written, this is the fact-led and information-rich resource that will answer your questions about autism, introduce you to your new community and set you up to thrive as an autistic adult.
Shouting At Leaves
Jennifer Msumba
£15.99 £15.19I have lived through some horrible experiences, all in the name of treatment. But there was one thing I never let those people steal from me, and that was my spirit. Shouting At Leaves takes the reader on the journey of its autistic writer from toddlerhood to adulthood. With humor and grace, this book walks you through the mind and experiences of Jennifer as she navigates the world of family, friendships and school life. It places you with her as she is confined in the mental health system, including the infamous Judge Rotenberg Center, and you will cheer her on as she not only survives but takes on a new life of freedom and joy in the end. She shares stories, tips, and strategies to equip you to be your own champion, and to build around you people who are loyal and true.
The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Autism Studies
£200.00
This handbook provides an authoritative and up-to-date overview of Critical Autism Studies and explores the different kinds of knowledges and their articulations, similarities, and differences across cultural contexts and key tensions within this subdiscipline. Critical Autism Studies is a developing area occupying an exciting space of development within learning and teaching in higher education. It has a strong trajectory within the autistic academic and advocate community in resistance and response to the persistence of autism retaining an identity as a genetic disorder of the brain. Divided into four parts • Conceptualising autism • Autistic identity • Community and culture • Practice and comprising 24 newly commissioned chapters written by academics and activists, it explores areas of education, Critical Race Theory, domestic violence and abuse, sexuality, biopolitics, health, and social care practices. It will be of interest to all scholars and students of disability studies, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, education, health, social care, and political science.
Approaching Autistic Adulthood: The Road Less Travelled
Grace Liu
£12.99Getting through autistic adulthood takes guts. How do you start? From managing autistic burnout to surviving work to dealing with people ‘neurotypical-splaining’ autism, this book is packed with informal advice, entertaining anecdotes, and shrewd observations about life as an autistic adult. May it become a valuable guide for autistic people and neurotypical allies alike!
Safeguarding Autistic Girls: Strategies for Professionals
Carly Jones
£21.99This honest, to-the-point guide illuminates the experience of young Autistic girls and explores the situations they can easily fall victim to. Powerful case studies show how easily misunderstandings can arise for Autistic girls and help the reader to identify common patterns of abuse. Providing professionals with access to safeguarding strategies that are straightforward to implement and highly effective, this is essential reading for everyone who wants to better understand the challenges faced by this vulnerable group, and ensure they have access to the same opportunities to secure a good education and build safe and happy relationships as their peers.
The Adult Autism Assessment Handbook: A Neurodiversity Affirmative Approach
Dr Anna Day, Dr Juliana Azevedo, et al.
£32.99Adult autism assessment is a new and fast-growing clinical area, for which professionals often feel ill-equipped. Autistic adults are often misdiagnosed which has enormous implications for their mental health. This accessible and comprehensive adult autism assessment handbook covers the most up to date research and best practice around adult autism assessment, centering the person's internal experiences and sense-making in clinical assessment, rather than subjective observation, thus providing the clinician with a truly paradigm shifting Neuro-Affirmative approach to autism assessment. Traditional clinical assessment tools are comprehensively explored and unpacked to enable the clinician to have full confidence in aligning traditional criteria to the Autistic person's subjective experiences. Full of additional resources like language guidelines and an exploration of the common intersections between Autistic experience and the effects of trauma, mental health and more, this book supplies a breadth of knowledge on key areas that affect Autistic adults in everyday life. The mixed team of neurotypical and neurodivergent authors describe lived experience of Autistic adults, a how-to for conducting Neuro-Affirmative assessments and post-assessment support, alongside reflections from practice. This book also has a directory of further resources including downloadable forms that you can use to prepare for your own assessments and a downloadable deep dive into Autistic perception. This guide will also support professionals through every step of the assessment process.
Drama Queen: One Autistic Woman and a Life of Unhelpful Labels
SARA GIBBS
£12.99 £12.34'It has taken me several years of exploration, but I am at a place now where I see autism as neither an affliction nor a superpower. It's just the blueprint for who I am. There is no cure, but that's absolutely fine by me. To cure me of my autism would be to cure me of myself.' During the first thirty years of her life, comedy script writer Sara Gibbs had been labelled a lot of things - a cry baby, a scaredy cat, a spoiled brat, a weirdo, a show off - but more than anything else, she'd been called a Drama Queen. No one understood her behaviour, her meltdowns or her intense emotions. She felt like everyone else knew a social secret that she hadn't been let in on; as if life was a party she hadn't been invited to. Why was everything so damn hard? Little did Sara know that, at the age of thirty, she would be given one more label that would change her life's trajectory forever. That one day, sitting next to her husband in a clinical psychologist's office, she would learn that she had never been a drama queen, or a weirdo, or a cry baby, but she had always been autistic. Drama Queen is both a tour inside one autistic brain and a declaration that a diagnosis on the spectrum, with the right support, accommodations and understanding, doesn't have to be a barrier to life full of love, laughter and success. It is the story of one woman trying to fit into a world that has often tried to reject her and, most importantly, it's about a life of labels, and the joy of ripping them off one by one.
Looking After Your Autistic Self: A Personalised Self-Care Approach to Managing Your Sensory and Emotional Well-Being
Niamh Garvey
£16.99'I no longer try to mask my autism; I now work to support my autism' It is a myth that autistic children grow into 'less autistic' adults. In fact, many autistic adults feel more overwhelmed as they age as the stresses of social demands such as relationships, parenting, or the work environment increase. Niamh Garvey offers tips and tricks designed to reduce sensory and emotional stress and look after your autistic self. From understanding what's happening when the stress response kicks in to using the 'detective habit' to spot your individual strengths and triggers. What's more, every element of this book can be personalised to you. Featuring strategies including 'quick calm plans' for managing triggers and lived-experience advice on understanding emotional regulation, coping with sensory overload and how to look after your senses during intimacy, this guide is here to ensure that you don't just survive adulthood, you thrive in it.
Can't Not Won't: A Story About A Child Who Couldn't Go To School
ELIZA FRICKER
£14.99Eliza Fricker gets it. Her compelling, hard-hitting and irreverently humorous illustrations follow a family through the early days of school avoidance, the process of accessing support and the challenges of coping in the meantime. Can't Not Won't illuminates the absurdity and frustrations that often arise when dealing with health, social and educational systems, and will help any parent in the same boat feel seen. This guide acts as a way to communicate these difficult circumstances with others. Wonderfully relatable, the book also includes written guidance for parents and professionals on what works best when it comes to managing school avoidance.
The Family Experience of PDA: An Illustrated Guide to Pathological Demand Avoidance
ELIZA FRICKER
£14.99Eliza Fricker gets it. Describing her perfectly imperfect experience of raising a PDA child, with societal judgements and internal pressures, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, resentful and alone. This book's comedic illustrations explain these challenging situations and feelings in a way that words simply cannot, will bring some much-needed levity back into PDA parenting. Humorous anecdotes with a compassionate tone remind parents that they are not alone, and they're doing a great job. If children are safe, happy, and you leave the house on time, who cares about some smelly socks? A light-hearted and digestible guide to being a PDA parent covering everything from tolerance levels, relationships and meltdowns to collaboration, flexibility, and self care to dip in and out as your schedule allows to help get to grips with this complex condition. This book is an essential read for any parent with a PDA child, to help better understand your child, build support systems and carve out some essential self care time guilt free.
A Different Way to Learn: Neurodiversity and Self-Directed Education
Naomi Fisher
£16.99'If you are a parent worrying whether self-directed education will work for your child, because you have been told that they have special needs which can only be met in the school system - think again' Neurodivergent children experience and interact with the world differently to many of their peers. Standard educational systems often fail to adapt to their unique strengths and ways of learning. School, and even the act of learning, can become a source of great anxiety and trauma. Self-directed education offers an alternative to traditional schools that can help neurodivergent children develop at their own pace and thrive. Blending theory, practical advice and lived experience, clinical psychologist Naomi Fisher introduces the world of self-directed learning and tailoring the learning environment to your child. This comprehensive overview of self-directed learning is packed with ideas on how to implement it at home and includes interviews from parents of neurodivergent children on how you can make learning differently work for you and your child
From Hurt to Hope: Stories of mental health, mental illness and being autistic
£16.99
Almost 80% of autistic people have a co-occurring mental health condition, and this powerful book puts their voices front and centre, showcasing the human experience beyond the medicalised language and diagnoses. This poignant essay collection shines a light on voices that often go unheard in our society. Covering a range of experiences from multiple ages, genders and backgrounds, discussions include trauma, relationships, masking, healthcare, intersectionality and more. The essays are structured along the topics of hurt (personal experiences and how they shaped the contributor), help (the tools and tips which have helped on their personal journeys), and hope (looking forward to the future). At times touching, humorous, and also enraging, this book offers a frank and honest depiction of the challenges autistic people face and the knock-on effect on their mental health. A challenge to change how our society treats and values one another.
Championing Your Autistic Teen at Secondary School: Getting the Best from Mainstream Settings
Debby Elley, Gareth D. Morewood, et al.
£16.99The transition to secondary school can be a daunting time for parents of autistic youngsters, as well as children themselves. Have you selected the right place? What if staff don't really understand your child's needs? Will they adapt sufficiently - and if not, then what happens? The good news is that you have the ability as a parent or carer to address these concerns, rather than leaving it all to chance. This book will give you the tools to do just that. From choosing the right school for your child (and spotting the tell-tale signs of the wrong one), to preparing both your child and the new school for the transition, to overcoming barriers and building a positive, collaborative and effective relationship between home and school. Tackling key topics from the point of view of both parent and teacher and using examples of great practice, this contains everything you need to know in order to build a more positive secondary school experience for your child.
Autism Equality in the Workplace: Removing Barriers and Challenging Discrimination
Janine Booth
£15.99Neurodiversity in the workplace can be a gift. Yet only 15% of adults with an autism spectrum condition (ASC) are in full-time employment. This book examines how the working environment can embrace autistic people in a positive way. The author highlights common challenges in the workplace for people with ASC, such as discrimination and lack of communication or the right kind of support from managers and colleagues, and provides strategies for changing them. Setting out practical, reasonable adjustments such as a quiet room or avoiding disruption to work schedules, this book demonstrates how day to day changes in the workplace can make it more inclusive and productive for all employees. Autism in the Workplace is intended for any person with an interest in changing working culture to ensure equality for autistic people. It is an essential resource for employers, managers, trade unionists, people with ASCs and their workmates and supporters.
What Works for Autistic Adults
Luke Beardon
£12.99 £12.34Imagine a world where an autistic person is included, engaged and cherished for how they are; a world which changes for autistic people, rather than changing the person. What Works for Autistic Adults brings the conversation about inclusivity into the forefront and turns it on its head. Instead of modifying the autistic individual and making exceptions or special circumstances, Luke shows how the world can, should and must change to accommodate your needs or those of the autistic person you love, live or work with. He identifies the aspects that impact on life most - partners, friends, work or college, and environment - and outlines the steps that can and should be taken by everyone involved to create an autism-friendly landscape and improve outcomes all round. Covering every setting, from social situations to office or other professional environments, and in all circumstances, Luke's book shows how no-one should have to struggle to exist within the parameters of a world they don't understand. What Works for Autistic Adults will give you the dialogue, tools and starting points to involve every loved one, family member or colleague as advocates for a world where you, or any other autistic adult, can truly flourish.
Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Adults: A Guide for Autistic Wellbeing
Luke Beardon
£10.99 £10.44As seen on the BBC documentary, Inside Our Autistic Minds, with Chris Packham 'A MUST-READ' Kieran Rose, The Autistic Advocate One of the biggest challenges if you are an autistic adult (or suspect you might be) is navigating the situations which to the predominantly neurotypical population might appear completely benign but which cause you huge stress, anxiety and worry. At work, at university, in social situations, in friendships, relationships, in shops, in unfamiliar environments - there are a wealth of things that can make you feel overwhelmed if the world is full of things that you feel nobody else notices but which cause you huge distress. Dr Luke Beardon has put together an optimistic, upbeat and readable guide that will be essential reading not just for any autistic adult, but for anyone who loves, lives with or works with an autistic person. Emphasising that autism is not behaviour, but at the same time acknowledging that there are risks of increased anxiety specific to autism, this practical book gives clear strategies that the autistic person can adopt to minimise their anxiety and live comfortably in a world full of what may seem to be noise and chaos. At the same time, Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Adults this book gives clear guidelines and mission statements to those who live or work with autistic people that they, too, can implement to accommodate needs that are different to their own, taking a radical new step towards a genuinely inclusive world in which autistic people don't just survive, but in which they thrive.
Autism in Childhood: For parents and carers of the newly diagnosed
Luke Beardon
£12.99 £12.34As seen on the BBC documentary, Inside Our Autistic Minds, with Chris Packham "If every parent receiving a diagnosis of autism for their child could read this book, it would avoid so much misunderstanding and unhappiness." - Dr Clare Lawrence A diagnosis - or a suspected diagnosis - of autism in a child can be overwhelming for a parent, especially if you know nothing, or very little, about either of them. Dr Luke Beardon is a well-known expert in the field, and this book is an accessible, easy-to-read introduction for those encountering autism for the first time. Gently and honestly, it guides you through the issues you might encounter, busting the myths around autism, and explaining what the diagnosis means for your child, for you, and for your wider family. It looks at sensory profiles, helps you handle your child's anxiety, tackles education, and answers a variety of frequently asked questions. Other topics covered by this sensitive and empowering book include how to have conversations with your child (the 'autistic voice'), how to manage your child's education and - importantly - the undeniable strengths of autism. As an introduction to - and a celebration of - the intriguing, beguiling, frustrating and remarkable world of autism, this book will help you understand your child's unique value and importance in the world.
What Works for Autistic Children
Luke Beardon
£12.99 £12.34Imagine a world where your autistic child is included, engaged and cherished for how they are; a world which changes for autistic children, rather than changing the child. What Works for Autistic Children brings the conversation about inclusivity into the forefront and turns it on its head. Instead of modifying the autistic child and making exceptions or special circumstances, Luke shows you, the parent, how the world can, should and must change to accommodate your child. He identifies the aspects that impact on your child's life most - the family, their school, their friends, their environment - and outlines the steps that can and should be taken by everyone involved to improve their outcome and create an autism-friendly landscape. From early communication, through pre-school, primary school, secondary school - on holidays, school trips and with friends - your child should not have to struggle to exist within the parameters of a world they don't understand. What Works for Autistic Children will give you the dialogue, tools and starting points to involve every professional and family member as advocates for a world where your child flourishes.
Sincerely, Your Autistic Child: What People on the Autism Spectrum Wish Their Parents Knew About Growing Up, Acceptance, and Ide
Emily Paige Ballou
£15.99 £15.19A rare and diverse collection of autistic voices that highlights to parents the unique needs of girls and nonbinary people who are growing up with autism. Most resources available for parents come out of the medical model of disability--from psychologists, educators, parents, and doctors--offering parents a narrow and technical approach to autism. Furthermore, it is widely believed that many autistic girls and women are underdiagnosed, which has further limited the information available regarding the unique needs of girls and nonbinary people with autism. Sincerely, Your Autistic Child represents an authentic resource for parents written by people who understand this experience most, autistic people themselves. From childhood and education to gender identity and sexuality, this anthology of autistic contributors tackles the everyday challenges of growing up while honestly addressing the emotional needs, sensitivity, and vibrancy of autistic girls and nonbinary people. Written like letters to parents, the contributors reflect on what they have learned while growing up with autism and how parents can avoid common mistakes and overcome challenges while raising their child. Sincerely, Your Autistic Child calls parents to action by raising awareness and redefining normal in order to help parents make their child feel truly accepted, valued, and celebrated for who they are.
Autistic Masking: Understanding identity management and the role of stigma
Amy Pearson and Kieran Rose
£34.44Masking is a form of identity management involving consciously or unconsciously suppressing aspects of identity and action. Often seen in socially marginalised groups, it is found to contribute towards poorer outcomes for autistic people, and is related to higher prevalence of suicidality, exhaustion and burnout, and mental health difficulties. Autistic Masking offers a holistic understanding of the most up-to-date evidence in this field, with the aim of developing solid knowledge and practice in health, education and society. Written to be accessible to everyday readers with an interest in autism as well as academics and professionals, the book deconstructs the predominant misconception that masking is purely a social strategy to ‘blend in’ with neurotypical (non-autistic) people. The authors consider the social context that facilitates impression management, including an individual’s response to stigma or trauma, and take an intersectional approach to exploring how autistic identity may interact with other aspects of selfhood.
The Autism-Friendly Cookbook
Lydia Wilkins
£16.99The Autism-Friendly Cookbook was created by journalist Lydia Wilkins for autistic adults and teens to turn to when cooking for friends, lacking inspiration, or on those low-energy days. With recipes to suit any occasion, the book is written in clear, jargon-free language which makes 'the obvious' obvious. Recipes are categorised by meal with additional guidance on the level of energy needed to tackle them, with options for low-energy or meltdown days, or days when you're able to take on a new challenge. They contain adaptations and options to suit different dietary needs including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free, and additional modifications for those who are sensory seekers, sensory avoiders or who want to expand their repertoire in the kitchen. With contributions from individuals within the autistic community and options for quick meals, special occasions and more. With autistic people at its heart, the book also contains helpful tips and advice for parents and teachers looking to find out more.
I Will Die On This Hill: Autistic Adults, Autism Parents, and the Children Who Deserve a Better World
Jules Edwards, Meghan Ashburn, et al.
£16.99There is a significant divide between autistic advocates and parents of autistic children. Parents may feel attacked for their lack of understanding, and autistic adults who offer insight and guidance are also met with hostility and rejection. Meghan Ashburn, a mother of two autistic boys, and Jules Edwards, an autistic parent, were no strangers to this tension and had an adversarial relationship when they first met. Over time, the two resolved their differences and are now co-conspirators in the pursuit of disability justice. This book unites both perspectives, exploring the rift between these communities and encouraging them to work towards a common goal. It provides context to dividing issues, and the authors use their experience to illustrate where they've messed up, where they've got things right, and what they've learned along the way.
The Nine Degrees of Autism: A Developmental Model for the Alignment and Reconciliation of Hidden Neurological Conditions
£25.99
The Nine Degrees of Autism presents a much-needed positive tool for understanding the developmental process of autism, and to facilitate the improved mental health and well-being of individuals on the spectrum. The ground-breaking model charts nine distinct stages of development - from pre-identification, to learning to live with changes in self-image following a late diagnosis, through to self-acceptance and wellbeing. Using the model as a framework each chapter focuses on a particular stage of the process. Experts provide personal insights into the environmental and societal challenges faced by individuals with autism, and dispel a number of popular misconceptions. The positive developmental model described in this book will encourage people on the Spectrum to accept themselves by focusing on their gifts rather than weaknesses, and to avoid identifying with negative medical classifications. The developmental process which the authors describe is also applicable to other ‘hidden’ neurological conditions such as Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Aphasia, and ADHD. The book should be read by anyone who wants to understand the real nature and experience of autism and will also be essential reading for a range of professionals seeking to work more effectively with individuals on the spectrum.
Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You
Jenara Nerenberg
£12.99 £12.34A paradigm-shifting study of neurodivergent women—those with ADHD, autism, synesthesia, high sensitivity, and sensory processing disorder—exploring why these traits are overlooked in women and how society benefits from allowing their unique strengths to flourish. As a successful Harvard and Berkeley-educated writer, entrepreneur, and devoted mother, Jenara Nerenberg was shocked to discover that her “symptoms”--only ever labeled as anxiety-- were considered autistic and ADHD. Being a journalist, she dove into the research and uncovered neurodiversity—a framework that moves away from pathologizing “abnormal” versus “normal” brains and instead recognizes the vast diversity of our mental makeups. When it comes to women, sensory processing differences are often overlooked, masked, or mistaken for something else entirely. Between a flawed system that focuses on diagnosing younger, male populations, and the fact that girls are conditioned from a young age to blend in and conform to gender expectations, women often don’t learn about their neurological differences until they are adults, if at all. As a result, potentially millions live with undiagnosed or misdiagnosed neurodivergences, and the misidentification leads to depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and shame. Meanwhile, we all miss out on the gifts their neurodivergent minds have to offer. Divergent Mind is a long-overdue, much-needed answer for women who have a deep sense that they are “different.” Sharing real stories from women with high sensitivity, ADHD, autism, misophonia, dyslexia, SPD and more, Nerenberg explores how these brain variances present differently in women and dispels widely-held misconceptions (for example, it’s not that autistic people lack sensitivity and empathy, they have an overwhelming excess of it). Nerenberg also offers us a path forward, describing practical changes in how we communicate, how we design our surroundings, and how we can better support divergent minds. When we allow our wide variety of brain makeups to flourish, we create a better tomorrow for us all.
Camouflage: The Hidden Lives of Autistic Women
Sarah Bargiela and Sophie Standing
£14.99Autism in women and girls is still not widely understood, and is often misrepresented or even overlooked. This graphic novel offers an engaging and accessible insight into the lives and minds of autistic women, using real-life case studies. The charming illustrations lead readers on a visual journey of how women on the spectrum experience everyday life, from metaphors and masking in social situations, to friendships and relationships and the role of special interests. Fun, sensitive and informative, this is a fantastic resource for anyone who wishes to understand how gender affects autism, and how to create safer supportive and more accessible environments for women on the spectrum.
The Autistic Alice
Joanne Limburg
£12.00 £11.40There are two acts of recovery in this book - one of a lost brother, and another of a lost self. Joanne Limburg commemorates both in her third collection, The Autistic Alice. In its title-sequence she uses Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass to explore her own experiences as a girl and young woman. Growing up with undiagnosed Asperger's, she often identified with Alice, a logical and curious child adrift in an arbitrary world. Collaging lines and phrases drawn from the two Alice books, she creates a disturbingly effective language to express the nature, discomfort and alienation of autistic experiences. In her neurodiverse verse, a text can become a rabbit-hole to another world, or a mirror. The poems that make up the book's opening sequence, The Oxygen Man, originally published as a pamphlet, were written in response to the death of Limburg's younger brother, a brilliant chemist who took his own life in 2008. They follow her as she visits the mid-Western town where he lived, worked and died; range back over their shared childhood; and look ahead as she tries to work out what it means to be the one who stays behind.
Nobody Nowhere: The Remarkable Autobiography of an Autistic Girl
Donna Williams
£17.99Donna Williams was a child with more labels than a jam-jar: deaf, wild disturbed, stupid insane... She lived within herself, her own world her foreground, ours a background she only visited. Isolated from her self and from the outside world, Donna was, in her words, a Nobody Nowhere. She swung violently between these two worlds, battling to join our world and, simultaneously, to keep it out. Abandoned from all connection to the self within her, she lived as a ghost with a body, a patchwork of the images which bombarded her. Intact but detached from the seemingly incomprehensible world around her, she lived in what she called 'a world under glass`. After twenty-five years of being misunderstood, and unable to understand herself, Donna stumbled upon the word 'autism': a label, but one which held up a mirror and made sense of her life and struggles, and gave her a chance to finally forgive both herself and those around her. Nobody Nowhere is disturbing, eloquent and ticklishly funny: it is an account of the soul of someone who lived the word 'autism' and survived in an unsympathetic environment despite intense inner chaos and incomprehension. It describes how, against the odds, Donna came to live independently, achieve a place at university, and write this remarkable autobiography. It is now an international bestseller, sold in over 14 languages throughout the world. This is a book that will stay with you as one of the most exceptional works you will ever read.
Somebody Somewhere: Breaking Free from the World of Autism
Donna Williams
£16.99The sequel to the powerful international bestseller Nobody Nowhere, Somebody Somewhere takes us deeper into Donna Williams' Journey into the world. Her war against it is finally over, but the pieces of her life lie scattered around her. Donna recounts the often funny, sometimes harrowing awakenings arising from sessions with a cognitive psychologist, who helps her understand what she has been through and make sense of her sensory problems, information overload and 'shutdowns'. We travel with her in her breakthroughs in working with autistic children and other adults like herself, as she finally finds a way of belonging and 'simply being' among others, without selling out who she really is. Somebody Somewhere continues Donna's story in her uniquely poignant yet humorous voice.
Unbroken: Learning to Live Beyond an Autism Diagnosis
Alexis Quinn
£12.99'Alexis's description of the Kafkaesque horror of being an autistic person trapped in a mental health system that doesn't understand our needs left me breathless' Katherine May, author of The Electricity of Every Living Thing Alexis Quinn has always known she was different. Academically and athletically gifted, she soared through her years in education but failed to socialise adequately with her peers. Somehow, social norms just passed her by. But her difference had always been her strength, until the birth of her child and the death of her brother, Josh; then her difference became her downfall. Unable to deal with the reality of what happened with Josh, Alexis was detained under the mental health act against her will. She found herself struggling for years, with diagnosis after diagnosis landing on her shoulders. Told repeatedly by doctors that she was dangerous, Alexis tried to become the person the system wanted her to be: someone normal. But it seemed that normal was always just out of reach. As time went by, she realised that the care she thought was going to help her might just be the very thing that would destroy her. Raw and honest, Unbroken tells the story of a strong woman learning how to live beyond diagnosis.
Understanding the Voices and Educational Experiences of Autistic Young People: From Research to Practice
UK) Goodall Craig (Queen's University Belfast
£19.99Providing a ‘one stop’ text, Understanding the Voices and Educational Experiences of Autistic Young People is a unique and comprehensive contribution to bridge the gap between theory, research and practice. Based on the author’s teaching and research experience, this book provides a theoretical and practical framework for participatory rights-based autism research and demonstrates the benefits of – and growing emphasis on – voice and participation research; if done correctly it can be of immense benefit to policy, practice and how we support autistic young people. Alongside a critical and extensive review of research literature and debate on the efficacy of mainstream inclusion for autistic children, the book provides practical advice on how to support autistic children in research and in school. Significantly, Goodall investigates and presents the educational experiences of autistic young people – including girls – and their suggestions to improve educational practice from their own perspectives, as opposed to adult stakeholders. This book will act as a key text for student teachers, practitioner-researchers, those already supporting autistic children in education or social settings (including teachers, school leaders, special education leads, policymakers) and academics researching in the areas of autism and inclusion.
Stim: An Autistic Anthology
£9.99 £9.49
Around one in one hundred people in the UK are autistic, yet there remains a fundamental misunderstanding of what autism is. It is rare that autistic people get to share their own experiences, show how creative and talented and passionate they are, how different they are from media stereotypes. This insightful and eye-opening collection of essays, fiction and visual art showcases the immense talents of some of the UK's most exciting writers and artists - who just happen to be on the spectrum. Here they reclaim the power to speak for themselves and redefine what it means to be autistic. Stim invites the reader into the lives, experiences, minds of the eighteen contributors, and asks them to recognise the hurdles of being autistic in a non-autistic world and to uncover the empathy and understanding necessary to continue to champion brilliant yet unheard voices.
Diary of a Young Naturalist: WINNER OF THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING 2020
Dara McAnulty
£11.99 £11.39'This diary chronicles the turning of my world, from spring to winter, at home, in the wild, in my head.' Evocative, raw and lyrical, this startling debut explores the natural world through the eyes of Dara McAnulty, an autistic teenager coping with the uprooting of home, school, and his mental health, while pursuing his life as a conservationist and environmental activist. Shifting from intense darkness to light, recalling his sensory encounters in the wild - with blackbirds, whooper swans, red kites, hen harriers, frogs, dandelions, Irish hares and more - McAnulty reveals worlds we have neglected to see, in a stunning world of nature writing that is a future classic. Diary of a Young Naturalist is a powerful and scintillating portrayal of the beauty of the natural world, as it shines a light on autism and of overcoming severe anxiety. It is a story of the binding love of family and home, and how we can help each other through the most difficult of times.
M in the Middle: Secret Crushes, Mega-Colossal Anxiety and the People's Republic of Autism
The Students of Limpsfield Grange of Limpsfield Grange School and Vicky Martin
£12.99I'll never have a Card Emporium series of life events: a boyfriend, a fiancé, a husband and a future. A future with lots of sparkly cards celebrating all these big life events. I was on course and now I'm not. Life after diagnosis isn't easy for M. Back in her wobbly world, there are lots of changes and ups and downs to get used to, not just for M, but for her friends and family too. Faced with an exciting crush, a pushy friend and an unhelpful Headteacher, how long until the beast of anxiety pounces again? Written by Vicky Martin and the students of Limpsfield Grange, a school for girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder and communication and interaction difficulties, M's story draws on the real life experiences of teens with autism. Read less
Our Autistic Lives: Personal Accounts from Autistic Adults Around the World Aged 20 to 70+
£16.99
This collection of narratives from autistic adults is structured around their decades of experience of life, covering 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60 and 70s+. These are varied and diverse, spanning different continents, genders, sexualities and ethnicities, yet the author highlights the common themes that unite them and skilfully draws out these threads. Each chapter is based on accounts from one age group and includes accounts from people of that age, giving an insight into the history of autism and signifying how gaining a diagnosis (or not) has changed people's lives over time. The book is about ageing with an autistic mind and helping the listener find connections between neurotypical and neurodiverse people by acknowledging the challenges we all face in our past, present and future.
The Reason I Jump: one boy's voice from the silence of autism
Naoki Higashida
£9.99 £9.49What is it like to have autism? How can we know what a person - especially a child - with autism is thinking and feeling? This groundbreaking book, written by Naoki Higashida when he was only thirteen, provides some answers. Severely autistic and non-verbal, Naoki learnt to communicate by using a 'cardboard keyboard' - and what he has to say gives a rare insight into an autistically-wired mind. He explains behaviour he's aware can be baffling such as why he likes to jump and why some people with autism dislike being touched; he describes how he perceives and navigates the world, sharing his thoughts and feelings about time, life, beauty and nature; and he offers an unforgettable short story. Proving that people with autism do not lack imagination, humour or empathy, THE REASON I JUMP made a major impact on its publication in English. Widely praised, it was an immediate No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller as well as a New York Times bestseller and has since been published in over thirty languages. In 2020, a documentary film based on the book received its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Jerry Rothwell, produced by Jeremy Dear, Stevie Lee and Al Morrow, and funded by Vulcan Productions and the British Film Institute, it won the festival's Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary, then further awards at the Vancouver, Denver and Valladolid International Film Festivals before its global release in 2021. The book includes eleven original illustrations inspired by Naoki's words, by the artistic duo Kai and Sunny.
Bittersweet on the Autism Spectrum
£15.99
In this rich and diverse collection, 28 writers describe what positive experiences they have had as an autistic person, and show how the most unexpected subject areas can be a source of the positive. They demonstrate that individuals can, and do, experience life in positive ways, sometimes in the face of adversity. Sharing both dark and joyful moments with unreserved honesty, their insights are moving, often hilarious, creative, and highly intelligent, and usually surprising. From hair-raising travelling experiences to parenting with verve, volunteering to teaching, running a marathon to taking on a PhD, they show that autism need not limit life. Introduced by Luke Beardon and Dean Worton, their stories challenge stereotypes surrounding autism, empower, and entertain.
Fingers in the Sparkle Jar: A Memoir
Chris Packham
£12.99 £12.34Every minute was magical, every single thing it did was fascinating and everything it didn't do was equally wondrous, and to be sat there, with a Kestrel, a real live Kestrel, my own real live Kestrel on my wrist! I felt like I'd climbed through a hole in heaven's fence. An introverted, unusual young boy, isolated by his obsessions and a loner at school, Chris Packham only felt at ease in the fields and woods around his suburban home. But when he stole a young Kestrel from its nest, he was about to embark on a friendship that would teach him what it meant to love, and that would change him forever. In his rich, lyrical and emotionally exposing memoir, Chris brings to life his childhood in the 70s, from his bedroom bursting with fox skulls, birds' eggs and sweaty jam jars, to his feral adventures. But pervading his story is the search for freedom, meaning and acceptance in a world that didn’t understand him. Beautifully wrought, this coming-of-age memoir will be unlike any you've ever read.
Nerdy, Shy, and Socially Inappropriate: A User Guide to an Asperger Life
Cynthia Kim
£15.99Cynthia Kim shares all the quirkyness of living with Asperger Syndrome (ASD) in this accessible, witty and honest guide. From being labelled nerdy and shy as an undiagnosed child to redefining herself when diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome as an adult, she describes how her perspective shifted to understanding a previously largely incomprehensible world and combines this with extensive research to explore the 'why' of ASD traits. She explains how they impact on everything from self-care to holding down a job and offers typically practical and creative strategies to help manage them including a section on the benefits of martial arts for people with ASD. Packed full of personal anecdotes and useful advice, this humorous, insider guide will be of immeasurable value to recently diagnosed autistic adults and their partners and family members, carers and mental health professionals working with people with autism, and anyone exploring whether they may be on the spectrum.
The Abcs of Autism Acceptance
Sparrow R Jones
£13.22Sparrow Rose Jones is probably best known for their blog, Unstrange Mind: Remapping My World, and their previous book, No You Don’t: Essays from an Unstrange Mind, both of which deftly narrate their examination of themself, their identity as an Autistic person, and the changing state of access and civil rights for Autistic people. Their essays have covered everything from famous civil rights and criminal cases in the media to sexuality and relationships, life skills, coping mechanisms, and personal introspection. In The ABCs of Autism Acceptance, Sparrow takes us through a guided tour of the topics most central to changing the way that autism is perceived, to remove systemic barriers to access that have traditionally been barriers to Autistic participation in some sectors of society. They also take us through the basics of Autistic culture, discussing many of its major features and recent developments with a sense of history and making the current state of the conversation around this form of neurodivergence clear to those who are new to it, whether they are Autistic themselves or a friend/family member looking for resources to help themselves support the Autistic people in their lives more fully. While it is impossible to capture the full scope and diversity of Autistic communities—and there are many of them out there—this book does serve as an important conversation starter, a primer, and a humble guide to the world. In these 26 short essays, you will find most of the topics most often blogged about by Actually Autistic authors, including footnotes, resources, and references to other writers whose works continue the conversations that start here.
How To Be Autistic
Charlotte Amelia Poe
£9.99 £9.49As we follow Charlotte's journey through school and college, we become as awestruck by their extraordinary passion for life as by the enormous privations that they must undergo to live it. From food and fandom, to body modification and comic conventions, Charlotte's experiences through the torments of schooldays and young adulthood leave us with a riot of conflicting emotions: horror, empathy, despair, laugh-out-loud amusement and, most of all, respect. For Charlotte, autism is a fundamental aspect of their identity and art. They address their reader in a voice that is direct, sharply clever and ironic. They witness their own behaviour with a wry humour as they sympathise with those who care for them, yet all the while challenging the neurotypical narratives of autism as something to be 'fixed'. 'I wanted to show the side of autism that you don't find in books and on Facebook. My story is about survival, fear and, finally, hope. There will be parts that make you want to cover your eyes, but I beg you to read on, because if I can change just one person's perceptions, if I can help one person with autism feel like they're less alone, then this will all be worth it.' Punctuated by their poetry, this is an exuberant, inspiring, life-changing insight into autism from a viewpoint almost entirely missing from public discussion.
The Obsessive Joy of Autism
Julia Bascom
£10.99Being autistic, to me, means a lot of different things, but one of the best things is that I can be so happy, so enraptured about things no one else understands and so wrapped up in my own joy that, not only does it not matter that no one else shares it, but it can become contagious. This is the part about autism that I can never explain. This is the part I never want to lose.' Julia Bascom's depiction of the joy of autistic obsessions tells a story about autism that is very rarely told. It tells of a world beyond impairments and medical histories, where the multiples of seven can open a floodgate of untranslatable joy, where riding a train can make everything feel perfectly sized and full of light, and where flapping your hands just so amplifies everything you feel. The Obsessive Joy of Autism will resonate powerfully with other autistic people, and encourage those who have a person with autism in their lives to look out for that joy, to chase it, to get obsessed.
AUTISM AN INSIDE-OUT APPROACH
Donna Williams
£18.98Donna Williams' challenging book, written by an autistic person for people with autism and related disorders, carers, and the professionals who work with them, is a practical handbook to understanding, living with and working with autism. Exploring autism from the inside, it shows clearly how the behaviours associated with autism can have a range of different causes, and in many cases reflect the autistic person's attempt to gain control over their internal world. The sensory and perceptual problems that challenge a person with autism are described in depth, together with strategies for tackling them so as to enable that person to take more control of their lives. Donna Williams comments on the various approaches to autism, drawing out those strategies that are of real use, and explaining why some approaches may prove counterproductive, leaving the autistic person feeling even more isolated and misunderstood. Taking the view that understanding autism is the key to managing the condition, Donna Williams' book will bring illumination to all those who have felt baffled and frustrated by the outside appearance of autism. It contains a wealth of helpful suggestions, insights and new ideas, exploding old myths and promoting a view that all those involved with autism will find empowering and creative.
The Neurodiversity Reader: Exploring Concepts, Lived Experience and Implications for Practice
£42.55
This thought-provoking collection is written for all stakeholders in relation to autism and neurodivergent conditions. Despite having wide impact on a variety of disciplines, neurodiversity and related concepts are often poorly understood, which can lead to uninformed debate and potential tensions between stakeholders regarding service provision for those with neuro-developmental disabilities. The Neurodiveristy Reader brings together work from pioneering figures within and beyond the neurodiversity movement to critically explore its history, the concepts of neurodiversity that have shaped it, lived experiences, and how a better informed understanding might be translated into practice and service provision. Through a variety of accounts, the relevance and criticisms of these concepts in understanding ourselves and one another are examined, as well as important implications for practice. A primary text for support professionals and students of neurodivergent experiences and disability, as well as neurodivergent people themselves.
The Passionate Mind: How People with Autism Learn
Wendy Lawson and Lisa Simone
£19.99In her new book, Wendy Lawson examines traditional theories about the autism spectrum (AS) and reveals their gaps and shortcomings. Showing that a completely different way of thinking about AS is needed, she sets forward the theory of Single Attention and Associated Cognition in Autism (SAACA), an approach that explains autism in terms of the unique learning style of AS individuals. The SAACA approach suggests that whereas neurotypical people can easily shift their attention from one task to another, those on the autism spectrum tend to use just one sense at a time, leading to a deep, intense attention. From the perspective of this new approach, Wendy describes practical outcomes for individuals, families, and places of education and employment, and shows that when the unique learning style of AS is understood, valued, and accommodated, AS individuals can be empowered to achieve their fullest potential. This is a fascinating read for anyone with a personal or professional interest in the autism spectrum, including clinical practitioners, educators, researchers, individuals on the spectrum and their families, teachers, occupational therapists, and other professionals.
Explaining Humans: Winner of the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2020
Camilla Pang
£10.99 £10.44How proteins, machine learning and molecular chemistry can teach us about the complexities of human behaviour and the world around us How do we understand the people around us? How do we recognise people's motivations, their behaviour, or even their facial expressions? And, when do we learn the social cues that dictate human behaviour? Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of eight, Camilla Pang struggled to understand the world around her and the way people worked. Desperate for a solution, Camilla asked her mother if there was an instruction manual for humans that she could consult. But, without the blueprint to life she was hoping for, Camilla began to create her own. Now armed with a PhD in biochemistry, Camilla dismantles our obscure social customs and identifies what it really means to be human using her unique expertise and a language she knows best: science. Through a set of scientific principles, this book examines life's everyday interactions including: - Decisions and the route we take to make them; - Conflict and how we can avoid it; - Relationships and how we establish them; - Etiquette and how we conform to it. Explaining Humans is an original and incisive exploration of human nature and the strangeness of social norms, written from the outside looking in. Camilla's unique perspective of the world, in turn, tells us so much about ourselves - about who we are and why we do it - and is a fascinating guide on how to lead a more connected, happier life.
Working with Autistic Transgender and Non-Binary People: Research, Practice and Experience
£21.99
Setting out advice, research and personal reflections to inform professionals' daily practice and overall understanding of the lives and experiences of autistic transgender and non-binary people, this edited volume is an invaluable resource for anyone who seeks to engage more with autistic transgender, non-binary or gender-variant people. Aiming to contextualise the overlap of autism and gender variance, this book features chapters by leading authorities such as Wenn Lawson, Damian Milton, Isabelle Hénault, Reubs Walsh, Lydia X. Z. Brown, and Shain Neumeier as well as other contributors from around the world. The collection is structured in three sections; the first provides interdisciplinary and intersectional approaches on autism and gender as well as the experiences of transgender and non-binary autistic people; the second features professionals discussing their work, the challenges they face and the solutions they find helpful; and the final section presents thoughts and perspectives from trans and non-binary autistic people on various aspects of their experiences, focusing on information that professionals will need to consider and discuss with the people they support. Combining rich and nuanced accounts of the lives of autistic trans people, practical guidance and information as well as the latest academic research about autistic transgender and non-binary individuals, this unique collection is essential reading for any professional wanting to develop their daily practice.
Spectrums: Autistic Transgender People in Their Own Words
£16.99
Written by autistic trans people from around the world, this vital and intimate collection of personal essays reveals the struggles and joys of living at the intersection of neurodivergence and gender diversity. Weaving memories, poems and first-person narratives together, these stories showcase experiences of coming out, college and university life, accessing healthcare, physical transition, friendships and relationships, sexuality, pregnancy, parenting, and late life self-discovery, to reveal a rich and varied tapestry of life lived on the spectrums. With humour and personal insight, this anthology is essential reading for autistic trans people, and the professionals supporting them, as well as anyone interested in the nuances of autism and gender identity.
Letters To My Weird Sisters: On Autism and Feminism
Joanne Limburg
£10.99 £10.44It seemed to me that many of the moments when my autism had caused problems, or at least marked me out as different, were those moments when I had come up against some unspoken law about how a girl or a woman should be, and failed to meet it. An autism diagnosis in midlife enabled Joanne Limburg to finally make sense of why her emotional expression, social discomfort and presentation had always marked her as an outsider. Eager to discover other women who had been misunderstood in their time, she writes a series of wide-ranging letters to four 'weird sisters' from history, addressing topics including autistic parenting, social isolation, feminism, the movement for disability rights and the appalling punishments that have been meted out over centuries to those deemed to fall short of the norm. This heartfelt, deeply compassionate and wholly original work humanises women who have so often been dismissed for their differences, and will be celebrated by 'weird sisters' everywhere.
Odd Girl Out: An Autistic Woman in a Neurotypical World
Laura James
£10.99 £10.44What do you do when you wake up in your mid-forties and realize you've been living a lie your whole life? Do you tell? Or do you keep it to yourself? Laura James found out that she was autistic as an adult, after she had forged a career for herself, married twice and raised four children. This book tracks the year of Laura's life after she receives a definitive diagnosis from her doctor, as she learns that 'different' doesn't need to mean 'less' and how there is a place for all of us, and it's never too late to find it. Laura draws on her professional and personal experiences and reflects on her life in the light of her diagnosis, which for her explains some of her differences; why, as a child, she felt happier spinning in circles than standing still and why she has always found it difficult to work in places with a lot of ambient noise. Although this is a personal story, the book has a wider focus too, exploring reasons for the lower rate of diagnosed autism in women and a wide range of topics including eating disorders and autism, marriage and motherhood. Odd Girl Out gives a timely account from a woman negotiating the autistic spectrum, from a poignant and personal perspective.
Uncomfortable Labels: My Life as a Gay Autistic Trans Woman
Laura Kate Dale
£15.99"So while the assumption when I was born was that I was or would grow up to be a neurotypical heterosexual boy, that whole idea didn't really pan out long term." In this candid, first-of-its-kind memoir, Laura Kate Dale recounts what life is like growing up as a gay trans woman on the autism spectrum. From struggling with sensory processing, managing socially demanding situations and learning social cues and feminine presentation, through to coming out as trans during an autistic meltdown, Laura draws on her personal experiences from life prior to transition and diagnosis, and moving on to the years of self-discovery, to give a unique insight into the nuances of sexuality, gender and autism, and how they intersect. Charting the ups and downs of being autistic and on the LGBT spectrum with searing honesty and humour, this is an empowering, life-affirming read for anyone who's felt they don't fit in.
But you don't look autistic at all
Bianca Toeps
£19.35Autism – that's being able to count matches really fast and knowing that 7 August 1984 was a Tuesday, right? Well, no. In this book, Bianca Toeps explains in great detail what life is like when you're autistic. She does this by looking at what science says about autism (and why some theories can go straight in the bin), but also by telling her own story and interviewing other people with autism. Bianca talks in a refreshing and sometimes hilarious way about different situations autistic people encounter in daily life. She has some useful tips for non-autistic people too: what you should do if someone prefers not to look you in the eye, why it is sometimes better to communicate by email, and, most important of all, why it is not a compliment if you say: "But you don't look autistic at all!"
Queerly Autistic: The Ultimate Guide For LGBTQIA+ Teens On The Spectrum
Erin Ekins
£14.99In this empowering and honest guide for LGBTQIA+ autistic teens, Erin Ekins gives you all the tools you need to figure out and explore your gender identity and sexuality. From coming out to friends and family, staying safe in relationships and practicing safe sex, through to self-care and coping with bullying, being out and about in the LGBTQIA+ community and undergoing gender transition, this book is filled with essential information, advice, support and resources to help you on your journey, and also works as a primer on all things LGBTQIA+ for non-autistic teens who are just figuring it all out. Written by an inspirational autistic queer woman, this is a must-read for every autistic teen wanting to live their very best queer life.