Brilliant autistic book Neuroqueer Heresies by autistic academic Nick Walker

I think Dara does want to follow in Chris Packham’s footsteps/or do some similar like nature conservation. I have seen him on Springwatch before, he would make a great presenter because he is so passionate and engaging when talking about wildlife.

Another great autistic person following their passions to make a difference!

He has his own website that you might be interested in:

https://daramcanulty.com/

And in the autism self-help book category....

I strongly recommend Overcoming Anxiety & Depression on the Autism Spectrum by Lee A. Wilkinson.

Its CBT based, and helped me greatly, hard work and took me a long time as kept slipping back.  Also helped with frustration/anger, which it also covers, I'm sure many autistic people know those two well also. 

He is, and I hope he follows in his footsteps though he may not want to of course, needs to do what's right for him, and he has been doing that carefully.

I have read Dara McAnulty’s book too, it is really descriptive. He is almost like a young Chris Packham.

Thanks for the other recommendations, I shall research.

I would recommend reading the following by autistic people:

Temple Grandin - The Autistic Brain, thats a good book about autism and also herself, and worth reading about her as age means she was a child when autism wasn't really know enough, and far from how things are today. 

Chris Packham - Fingers in the Sparkle Jar
Dara McNulty -   The Young Naturalist

Bought those two as align closely, both as child and adult.

Two books I haven't bought yet but should be good based on what i know.

I can recommend Drama Queen by Sara Gibbs based on following her on twitter, though not bought it yet, though should.

Explaining Humans by Camilla Pang, recommended off twitter.

Also Pete Wharmby has a book coming out next March called Untypical, which should be good 

NT authors:

The Complete Guide to Aspergers by Tony Attwood, controversial author but this book was useful to me to understand high-functioning autism  

It is perfectly valid to wait for your diagnosis before you start reading autistic books, you need to be ready and confident enough to explore your own autistic experience in more depth.

You are very welcome. There are a wealth of great autistic books to explore that you will hopefully really enjoy or resonate with.

As far as other recommendations, here is my list:

• Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Adults by Luke Beardon (not autistic author, probably neurodivergent in other ways, still a brilliant book though)
• Stim: An Autistic Anthology 
• Fingers in the Sparkle Jar by Chris Packham
• Loud Hands
• Explaining Humans by Camilla Pang
• Drama Queen by Sara Gibbs
• Spectrum Women

I know this is a long list, I could add more but I would be here for ages. I hope something on this list interests you. If not there are some other reading lists compiled by other autistics:

https://lizziehuxleyjones.com/#autbooks

https://aucademy.co.uk/books/

If you click on the list of stim toys on this page, there are also some recommendations for books.

I hope your reading is insightful and you learn more about your own autistic experience or resonate with other autistic people.

This book is definitely a good buy.

Thank you for the recommendation. I’m looking for some books to read on autism and the autistic experience as I haven’t read anything yet. I, perhaps wrongly, felt like I needed to wait for a diagnosis before doing any reading. It’s a year on from my diagnosis and I feel ready, after joining in here and exploring this website along with others, to do so. 

Perhaps this will be the book I will start with. Do you, or anyone else for that matter, have any other recommendations to go alongside this one, as a good place to start my reading?

Thanks in advance.

New to me, I should have said.  I'm not really a book person, and a limited budget, so have to choose wisely what I buy and this one sounds like a wide book to buy next, than others I have in mind.  I will order it before I forget, as that's happened before and then struggle to find the book again.

It’s a great book. You say about autism advocates but Nick Walker’s work is not particularly new, she just decided to collate her essays in a book.

Having said that, there are lots of great biographies and memoirs by other autistics.

So many great autistic books to enjoy!

 I hope you like the book.

Sounds really good, someone I've not come across before, but that's how it is with autism writers and advocates, a lot to keep track of an new ones come along all the time, thanks.

You are very welcome. Hopefully you will find that the book entices  your dopamine seeking ADHD brain enough to avoid any distractions.

It’s a great book to hyper focus on and make detailed notes.

 I hope you enjoy it!

I look forward to chatting to you about your thoughts on the book.

You are very welcome. In my very biased autistic opinion it is great, I have not even finished reading it yet. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

This looks amazing, thank you

Thanks for the recommendation, I'm intrigued. Now just need to be able to quell the onslaught of ADHD distractions to allow me to start & finish it.

I'll let you know how it goes