I have been having a look through this suite of book reviews (some old favourites and others are titles new to me):

https://salvesen-research.ed.ac.uk/resources-and-outreach/library-of-book-reviews

"The Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre is a collaborative research partnership with the Scottish charity, the Salvesen Mindroom Centre.

Our research is creating new knowledge about neurodevelopment and diversity. Together, we are using that knowledge to link research and practice, designing and evaluating ways to enable people to thrive."

Sometimes we are not looking for a book about Autism / Neurodiversity with ourself as the intended reader audience. 

Selecting a good "intro to ..." book for a friend / relative / work colleague to read can be a tricky quest.

I wondered about this one:

Neurodiversity For Dummies by John Marble

ISBN: 978-1394216178

Pub. Date: 19 March 2024

Paperback Pages: 384

(It is available in the formats: Paperback, Audio Book and Kindle).

Here is Paul Micallef's video book review of this title ("Autism From The Inside" is the name of Paul's YouTube channel):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0ieqSRIR-sc&pp=ygUcQXV0aXNtIGZyb20gdGhlIGluc2lkZSBib29rcw%3D%3D

Judging by Paul's review and various online reviews at Amazon and beyond - I think I will get a copy and try using this book (to help some key people in my life to understand more about Autism and Neurodiversity).

Next month, I am joining a new service group within my general wider community and I wondered if members of their Committee might be interested in borrowing a book like this one (as I am not assuming they might necessarily be Autism-aware etc.).

Just ordered: mainly to add onto another book to get free delivery. I am sucker for free delivery. 

Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You 

by Jenara Nerenberg

I wondered what the point of Neurotribes was, I found it totally US based and that there was nothing for anyone else in the English speaking world worth reading in it.

The Gendered Brain is a more academic book.

Hi. Thanks for the recommendation. I will check it out. I really struggled with reading Neurotribes, so if it has a similar reading age I may audiobook it. x

I've never read any books on autism that I've found helpful, the only one I did like was, 'The Gendered Brain', by Gina Ripon, its a much more technical book on how biased many studies are.

Ooooo. I didn't know about this on the site. Thanks so much. 

This list is from the NAS website (I have been reading quite a number of them, although fiction tends not to be my personal preference).

You are very welcome mrs.snooks. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Funny thing is because I don’t retain information that well I have enjoyed some of those books 3 times over….. the gift that keeps on giving! 

Thank you for the recommendation. I have been struggling to find my next read and nothing seemed to jump out at me. I shall make it my next book and report back. 

try out I am autistic by Chanelle Moriah and this is ADHD (same author) she was diagniosed at early adult hood and wanted to not just find out more about her diagnosises but also help other newly diagnosed people aswell so she created a interactive book that you can write in as you go and it explains a lot about different autism traits so it helped me understand autism and why I act the way I do due to it.

Thank you for the super list. Ones I haven't read added to my plan to read. x

1, Untypical by Pete Wharmby

2, How not to fit in by Jess Joy and Charlotte Mia

3, Why can’t I just enjoy things by Pierre Novelli

4, Neurotribes by Steve Siberman

5, The autistic survival guide to therapy by Steph Jones

6, Different not less by Chloe Hayden

7, Unmasking autism by Devon Price

8, Looking after your autistic self by Niamh Garvey

9, Illuminated by Melanie Sykes

10, Unmasked by Ellie Middleton 

11, How to be you by Ellie Middleton 

Those are some of what I have read. I tend to prefer an author who has actual lived experiences as ND. 

Thanks. I don't often read non fiction and most of my autism reading is done on the internet. The few that I have read tended to have outdated information so I got annoyed with them. I did enjoy the reason I jump and the boy made out of blocks though. 1 from an autistic persons pov and the other the father of an autistic child. I think there was another book by a parent that I also enjoyed but I can't for the life of me remember what it was called. One of those 2 books featured a non verbal child but who could sing. He would sing happy birthday if there was fire around.

Fiction wise there's quite a few I've enjoyed. There is a series about a girl with PDA (co-written by a child with PDA). I think the first book is called now you see me. Another autistic author Elle McNicoll writes various books with neurodivergent characters. A kind of spark is my favourite. I also enjoyed the Rosie Project series even though it does have a stereotypical genius character. It is very entertaining. I loved a curious incident of a dog in the night time. A similar but less well known book is the colours of bee Larkham's murder. I found this is a fascinating presentation of autism. I personally also enjoyed Jodi Picoults House Rules. I know some people disliked it because the mum has him on a special diet but for me that is just a character representing people that certainly exist and not necessarily the author advocating for these diets. Think that's all of them.

I often don't recognise the stuff American books talk about

Hi. I'd be really interested in knowing about fiction books too. It's been an age since I read fiction as it tends to overwelm me. But definitely do post. 

Hopefully this will link you to a sample for you to look at:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Why-Cant-Just-Enjoy-Things/dp/1785121022/ref=sr_1_1?crid=16FDSCFPR4R40&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.QMjb0LYj4cBxvtg_8FhBGw.9kA5LsvZsccTA7yemreq1nm7_vIuiV2FGsjARlU0j2E&dib_tag=se&keywords=why+cant+i+just+enjoy+things+paperback&qid=1742930063&sprefix=why+cant+i+just+%2Caps%2C455&sr=8-1&asin=B0DJB13S65&revisionId=efb38290&format=3&depth=1

I also like Luke Beardon's books. He is just amazing to hear talk too.

Are we talking factual books about autism or just books that autism is a topic in so might be fictional books with autistic characters?

Untypical by Pete Wharmby. Thinking In Pictures by Temple Grandin. All Cats Are On The Autism Spectrum by Kathy Hoopman, this really captures autism so well in a great format.