Autism Acceptance Month

Being diagnosed with autism as an adult can be disorienting and isolating; however, if you can understand the condition and how it affects perceptions, relationships, and your relationship with the world in general, a happy and successful life is attainable. Through an introduction to the autism spectrum, and how the Level 1 diagnosis is characterised, the author draws on personal experiences to provide positive advice on dealing with life, health, and relationships following an adult diagnosis.

Dr. Temple Grandin is a doctor of animal science, a professor at Colorado State University, a best-selling author, an autism activist, and a consultant on animal behavior. She also invented the "squeeze machine," a device to calm the sensory systems of those on the autism spectrum. Here, in this handy reference book, Temple gives an overview of what it is like to have autism and sensory difficulties, tells how she overcame her sensory issues, gives useful tips, then answers your questions in an easy-to-reference Q&A.

Like many others on the autism spectrum, 20-something stand-up comic Michael McCreary has been told by more than a few well-meaning folks that he doesn't "look" autistic. But, as he's quick to point out in this memoir, autism "looks" different for just about everyone with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

\At the age of thirty-five, Jennifer was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, and for the first time in her life, things made sense. Now, Jennifer exposes the constant struggle between carefully crafted persona and authentic existence, editing the autism script with wit, candor, passion, and power.

An instruction manual for life, love, and relationships by a brilliant young scientist whose Asperger's syndrome allows her--and us--to see ourselves in a different way...and to be better at being human.

This book shows how to use yoga to bring calm and focus (and exercise!) to kids with special needs. Childhood is a time filled with new motor challenges and hurdles, and this is doubly true for kids with autism and other special needs. Occupational therapist Britt Collins tells how to use yoga to support special needs, increasing body awareness and fine tune coordination skills.

Telling your child about their autism diagnosis can be daunting. Will they be better off for knowing? What's the right way to tell them? Should you inform anyone else too? As a mother of two children on the spectrum, with over ten years' experience as a psychologist specialising in childhood autism, Raelene Dundon has all the tips you'll need. In this concise book, she sets out case studies, examples and resources that will equip you to make your own informed choices and help your whole family to live well with autism.

Tthe most successful approaches to autism don't aim at fixing a person by eliminating symptoms, but rather seeking to understand the individual's experience. Instead of classifying "autistic" behaviors as signs of pathology, Dr. Prizant sees them as part of a range of strategies to cope with a world that feels chaotic and overwhelming. Rather than curb these behaviors, it's better to enhance abilities, build on strengths, and offer supports that will lead to more desirable behavior and a better quality of life.

In a Different Key tells the extraordinary story of this often misunderstood condition, and of the civil rights battles waged by the families of those who have it. Unfolding over decades, it is a beautifully rendered history of ordinary people determined to secure a place in the world for those with autism--by liberating children from dank institutions, campaigning for their right to go to school, challenging expert opinion on what it means to have autism, and persuading society to accept those who are different.

In 1930s and 1940s Vienna, child psychiatrist Hans Asperger sought to define autism as a diagnostic category, treating those children he deemed capable of participating fully in society. Depicted as compassionate and devoted, Asperger was in fact deeply influenced by Nazi psychiatry. With sensitivity and passion, Edith Sheffer reveals the heart-breaking voices and experiences of many of these children.

WIRED reporter Steve Silberman unearths the secret history of autism, long suppressed by the same clinicians who became famous for discovering it. Going back to the earliest days of autism research and chronicling the brave and lonely journey of autistic people and their families through the decades, Silberman maps out a path for our society toward a more humane world in which people with learning differences have access to the resources they need to live happier, healthier, more secure, and more meaningful lives.