The Adult Autism Assessment Handbook by Davida Hartman; Tara O'Donnell-Killen; Jessica K. Doyle; Maeve Kavanagh; Anna Day; Juliana Azevedo Adult 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. It centers 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.

Autism Is Not a Disease by Jodie Hare How to build a fairer, more neuro-inclusive society Neurodiversity is one of the most urgent political issues of our time. As the number of diagnoses of autism, ADHD, and other types of neurodivergence rises, we are starting to understand that there is no such thing as a 'normal' brain. But society is still organised around neuronormativity, and autism is treated as a disease. Jodie Hare, diagnosed with autism at twenty-three, argues it is time to redefine the politics of who we are. She calls for the recognition of diversity as part of natural variation, rather than a departure from sameness.

Communication and Teamwork Skills to Support Neurodiversity by Teagan Menhenett; Nick Milne; and Siva Krishnan A significant challenge for neurodivergent students is the transition to studying in a new environment. This book focuses on assisting students with this transition by guiding them through different learning activities and information to support the team-based learning they will engage in during their degree. The resources in this book are designed to be accessible for all students and staff, with the aim of developing an understanding of disability and neurodiversity, teamwork and communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively with peers to achieve common goals. The resources shared here can be utilised within individual units to support student skill development in inclusivity, engagement with others and the capacity to contribute towards highly functional teams.

Empire of Normality by Robert Chapman The neurodiversity movement suggests that it takes all kinds of minds for society to function. Instead of accepting their place as inferior, the divergent are reforging their position as 'neurominorities', and are organizing in ever greater numbers to change how they are perceived and treated. Robert Chapman looks at the history that led to this movement, showing how the rise of capitalism created an 'empire of normality' that transformed our understanding of the body into that of a productivity machine. Blowing apart this outdated and oppressive understanding of mental functioning, Chapman argues that a bright future for neurodivergent communities could be achieved by challenging the deepest logic of capitalism. Liberation from oppression is possible, but only if we can change the conditions that gave rise to pervasive neuronormative domination across the modern world.

Neurodiversity by Lawrence K. Fung (Editor) Neurodiversity: From Phenomenology to Neurobiology and Enhancing Technologies is an introduction to the strengths-based model of neurodiversity (SBMN), designed to integrate and build on existing theories of positive psychology, positive psychiatry, multiple intelligences, and developmental psychology and to apply them to devise strengths-based assessments and interventions for neurodiverse individuals. Because the field is in its infancy, there are few authoritative resources for clinicians and educators who wish to understand their neurodiverse patients and students and acquire up-to-date strategies for supporting them in daily life. This book, edited by one of the foremost experts on neurodiversity and drawing on the knowledge of a stellar group of contributors, explores social models of disability as the starting point for strengths-based approaches to neurodiversity, translating them into approaches to support, educate, and enable people with neurodifferences to function successfully in educational and work environments. Down-to-earth, accessible, and intended for a diverse audience, the book's assets are many: * The benefits of SBMN to autistic individuals are addressed in-depth, including assessment based on character strengths and specific talents, as well as interventions targeting not only these individuals but also families, organizations, and society.* Employment, a key trait enabling independence and self-determination, has heretofore been difficult for neurodiverse individuals. The twin challenges of training, employing, and retaining neurodiverse staff and readying candidates for the labor market are discussed, with emphasis on innovative programs and strategies. * The chapter on dyslexia examines the dichotomy between the challenges dyslexic people face and their extraordinary abilities, redefining what it means to be dyslexic and recognizing that dyslexia is more than a reading issue, it is a way of interacting with the world.* Case examples help readers understand each chapter's critically important concepts. These examples are of both individuals, such as a neurodivergent college student struggling with "big picture" thinking, and programs, such as the Autism at Work program implemented by the software company SAP, which has led to remarkable productivity.* Other features include recommendations for educators, clinicians, and other professionals; key concepts; discussion questions; and suggested readings. These ensure that the reader gets the most out of the material and provide guidance for locating additional information. Positive, substantive, and eminently useful, Neurodiversity: From Phenomenology to Neurobiology and Enhancing Technologies aims to change our culture to one that not only embraces neurodiversity but promotes it as a necessary societal value.

The Pocket Guide to Neurodiversity by Daniel Aherne; Tim Stringer (Illustrator) In this simple guide, expert speaker and trainer Daniel Aherne provides a clear introduction to neurodiversity and the four most common neurodivergent identities of autism, ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia. Using an analogy of a cactus needing a desert to grow in, he emphasises the importance of getting the environment right for neurodivergent people, rather than expecting them to adapt to the neurotypical world... Busting common misconceptions and setting out simple tips and guidance for supporting the neurodivergent people around you, whether among your family, friends or at your school, college or workplace - or if you yourself are ND and want to improve the understanding of others - this essential guide will help us all celebrate neurodiversity and foster more inclusive communities.

The Rise of Autism by Ginny Russell This innovative book addresses the question of why increasing numbers of people are being diagnosed with autism since the 1990s. Providing an engaging account of competing and widely debated explanations, it investigates how these have led to differing interpretations of the same data. Crucially, the author argues that the increased use of autism diagnosis is due to medicalisation across the life course, whilst holding open the possibility that the rise may also be partly accounted for by modern-day environmental exposures, again, across the life course. A further focus of the book is not on whether autism itself is valid as a diagnostic category, but whether and how it is useful as a diagnostic category, and how the utility of the diagnosis has contributed to the rise. This serves to move beyond the question of whether diagnoses are 'real' or social constructions, and instead asks: who do diagnoses serve to benefit, and at what cost do they come? The book will appeal to clinicians and health professionals, as well as medical researchers, who are interested in a review of the data which demonstrates the rising use of autism as a diagnosis, and an analysis of the reasons why this has occurred. Providing theory through which to interpret the expanding application of the diagnosis and the broadening of autism as a concept, it will also be of interest to scholars and students of sociology, philosophy, psychiatry, psychology, social work, disability studies and childhood studies.

The Spectrum Girl's Survival Guide by Siena Castellon Moonbeam Children's Book Awards - Silver Medal Winner Nautilus Silver Book Award Winner Purple Dragonfly Book Awards - First Place "Never be ashamed of being different: it is this difference that makes you extraordinary and unique." This essential go-to guide gives you all the advice and tools you'll need to help you flourish and achieve what you want in life. From the answers to everyday questions such as 'Am I using appropriate body language?' and 'Did I say the wrong thing?', through to discussing the importance of understanding your emotions, looking after your physical and mental health and coping with anxiety and sensory overloads, award-winning neurodiversity campaigner Siena Castellon uses her own experiences to provide you with the skills to overcome any challenge. With practical tips on friendships, dating, body image, consent and appearance, as well as how to survive school and bullying, The Spectrum Girl's Survival Guide gives you the power to embrace who you are, reminding you that even during the toughest of teen moments, you are never alone.

Teaching Myself to See by Tito Mukhopadhyay Teaching Myself to See deals with Tito's struggles to participate in a world full of visual details. As a person with autism, Tito is visually selective, processing the myriad of details seeping in through the eye rather than the whole. Tracing Tito's experiences to learn to see in his own, "hyper-visual" way, through art, through magazines, through everyday life, Teaching Myself to See is a work of auto-anthropology, capturing in words, sentences, paragraphs, poems, a way of seeing that might seem so bewildering that doctors and psychologists told his mother he wouldn't be able to think. This book proves otherwise. By teaching us to look through his eyes, Tito shows us the miracle and immense complexity of sight, of neuro-atypicals and neuro-typicals alike.

We Walk by Amy S. F. Lutz In this collection of beautiful and raw essays, Amy S. F. Lutz writes openly about her experience--the positive and the negative--as a mother of a now twenty-one-year-old son with severe autism. Lutz's human emotion drives through each page and challenges commonly held ideas that define autism either as a disease or as neurodiversity. We Walk is inspired by her own questions: What is the place of intellectually and developmentally disabled people in society? What responsibilities do we, as citizens and human beings, have to one another? Who should decide for those who cannot decide for themselves? What is the meaning of religion to someone with no abstract language? Exploring these questions, We Walk directly--and humanly--examines social issues such as inclusion, religion, therapeutics, and friendship through the lens of severe autism. In a world where public perception of autism is largely shaped by the "quirky geniuses" featured on television shows like The Big Bang Theory and The Good Doctor, We Walk demands that we center our debates about this disorder on those who are most affected by its impacts.