For those of you that don’t know me, neurodiversity is a subject close to my heart. Both autism and ADHD are part of my family’s genetic make up. We choose to embrace it. That doesn’t mean it’s all rainbows and sunshine. I know it’s not without challenges. This is why I felt it was important to include a page with resources that have helped us as a family. We came to see a lot of our challenges depend on our outlook and approach.
Soooo, here’s a list of some of the resources I’ve found really insightful in my quest to understand autism a little better. Some of the pages I’ve followed for years, some are fairly new to me but they’ve all helped me in one way or another. I’m planning to find a way of linking some of the articles that really resonated with me. I’m not sure how I do that yet tho.
The most important thing you can do is listen to autistic people. I do not experience autism so while I can write about parenting an autistic kid, I only explain it from my neurotypical view. I’ve found the best sources of help and information have been from actually autistic people.
Actually Autistic authors I like and follow
- https://thelifeautistic.com/
- https://autistrhi.com/
- https://www.facebook.com/thinkingpersonsguidetoautism
- https://www.facebook.com/AspergerExperts
- https://www.facebook.com/autisticnotweird
(TOP HINT: USE THE HASHTAG, #ACTUALLY AUTISTIC AND YOU’LL FIND SO MANY MORE)
Other websites or blogs I like
- https://www.facebook.com/adiaryofamom A wonderful blog by a neurotypical Mom about family life.
- https://autisticadvocacy.org/ Autistic Self Advocacy Network: a website dedicated to supporting autistic individuals
- https://asiam.ie/ AsIam: Ireland’s National autism charity and advocacy organisation
- https://www.autism.org.uk/ National Autistic society-UK
- https://neurodiversitylibrary.org/neurodivergent-narwhals/ Supports autistic individuals and promotes neurodiversity. Excellent graphics available to explain what neurodiversity means.
If you want to read my thoughts on how I see autism, you can read it here. It’s an old blog post from a couple of years ago but when I revisited it, it still felt right (although I think I’d use different terms now).
Books you should read
- Neurotribes by Steve Silberman. This is a must read! He discusses the history of autism and neurodiversity and it was a real eye opener for me.
- The Explosive Child by Dr Ross Greene. This is a must read too-especially if you’re dealing with tricky behaviors. It honestly had such a positive impact on our family. It should be given out in maternity packs!! Everyone who deals with conflict of any sort, even stubborn husbands will benefit from his Dr Greene’s techniques.
- Uniquely Human by Dr Barry Prizant
- Ten things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew by Ellen Notbaum
- The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida
- What We Love Most About Life by Chris Bonello
- Why Johnny Doesn’t Flap: NT is OK by Clay Morton and Gail Morton
- Fingers in the Sparkle Jar by Chris Packham
Videos
When you disclose a diagnosis, people seem to expect a rainman or the individual to be like their nephew or niece etc
Dr Stephen Shore is credited with saying “When you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism”.
This cartoon is the best and most simple explanation of the autistic spectrum I’ve ever seen and quite frankly, explains why someone’s cousin’s daughter maybe has better eye contact.
⬅️ Click on the blue “keep reading” at the bottom to see all the information
Please let me know below if the links don’t work and I’ll try to find the right ones….or if there’s anything else you want to bring up.
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