Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello fellow autistic people! I know many of us ask this community for book recommendations about autistic experiences. so I thought I would share this very comprehensive list compiled by neurodivergent group NeuroPride Ireland:
Books relating to autistic/neurodivergent experiences:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N9A6SUxJPr2j03p5d48-Moxe9dKexfxdNgeOG007ayA/htmlview
Whatever you are looking for in relation to autistic/neurodivergent experience, you will probably find it in this list!
Enjoy your autistic literature deep dive!
I plan on reading Fern Brady's book at some point. It's had good reviews. I am also interested in Stand up comedy, so Fern's book has more than one interest point for me.
I listened to Fern’s book as an audiobook, it is very good, it’s funny and very sad at times . Another I enjoyed was Sara Gibbs book, Drama Queen. It’s so sad how many of us get treated as mentally ill before we finally realise who or what we are.
Hi Roy
I know you enjoyed both Fern and Sara’s books. There is such a huge selection of autistic authored memoirs available now, it is hard to choose which one to read next!
Roy said:It’s so sad how many of us get treated as mentally ill before we finally realise who or what we are.
I agree, it’s especially sad when we know that many mental health difficulties could have been avoided/lessened if we knew about our autistic experiences, at a younger age and were able to adapt our environment accordingly.
This therefore also links to how many autistics associate being autistic with distress because they were only identified at crisis point. It is very upsetting when this leads to a negative perception of oneself and sometimes self hatred.
Hopefully, this will slowly change though as more lived experience autistic authored content is given a platform and prioritised over non autistic voices.
Ditto! Hopefully we can help to make that change!
Yes, there are lots of autistic celebrities who have recently released memoirs. I have not done much research into Melanie Sykes but I do know that she realised she was autistic after her son was identified autistic as a child.
Roy said: I follow her on insta, the tv world is very toxic.
Yes I can imagine!
Talking of autistic celebrities did you know that Carrie Grant is autistic? She was recently identified and it makes lots of sense given that many of her children are multiply neurodivergent. One of her children Tylan Grant is autistic and ADHD and stars in Hollyoaks.
I hope things will change, I’ve listened to the prologue of Melanie Sykes book, Illuminated. It sounds really good, another person who never knew until finally the ‘ penny dropped’. I follow her on insta, the tv world is very toxic.