Recently, a mother of a child who comes to the clinic asked her child’s therapist about their recommended autism books. I have read many books with great research, interesting ideas, and heart wrenching memoirs . But those kind of books are not always easy to read. Today’s books are informative, hopeful, and give windows into the world of neurodivergent brains. Here are three that I happily would share with everyone.
So one book that I really love is Uniquely Human by Dr. Barry Prizant. It was originally written in 2015, but it has updated in 2022. Dr. Barry Prizant is a speech language pathologist with over 40 years of experience working with autistic clients and their families.
This is not a dry book. Barry, or Dr. Prizant , tells stories that illustrate his points. It’s easy to understand and doesn’t overwhelm the reader with terminology. It’s heartwarming and interesting. I read the 2015 book. I’ve read it a couple of times, but I also listened to the audio book version of the new one and I recommend both.
The book is broken into two main parts; Understanding Autism and Living with Autism. I consider it required reading for my student interns, and the three chapters that I bring up the most are “What it Takes to “get it””, Wisdom from the Circle” and “The Real Experts.”
In the “What it Takes to “get it” chapter, Dr. Prizant explains that parents are noticing that some caregivers, therapists, and teachers have great experiences with their neurodivergent children, seem to really connect, seem to help them grow leaps and bounds while others struggle to make that connection. Why is that? He describes what some of those traits and attitudes may be that lead to successful engagement and demonstrates what parents may have a harder time articulating.
In the “Wisdom from the Circle” chapter, Dr. Prizant shares wisdom he’s acquired from listening to parents and caregivers for autistic individuals and affirms how important it is to honor their instincts, emotions, and their detailed knowledge and experiences with the autistic person in their lives.
In the chapter, “The Real Experts”, Dr. Prizant encourages us to listen to the real experts, autistic individuals. He highlights some autistic advocates, many of which have their own books or social media platforms that can lead you pleasantly down a rabbit hole of authentic and reliable information.
Also of note that Dr. Barry Prizant has a podcast of the same name, Uniquely Human, that he co-hosts with an autistic friend and sound engineer.
My next book is a middle grade novel called A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll, an autistic author. This novel has a unique perspective of an 11 year old autistic girl named Addie. It gives insight into her sensory differences, her relating to her family, especially her autistic older sister, and how she gets into a deep dive about the witch trials that happened in her Scottish village centuries ago and how that leads to Addie’s advocacy for the women of long ago and for herself and others today.
This book is brilliantly written from an autistic perspective. It highlights autism acceptance and advocacy, but also doesn’t shy away from the struggles autistic children may have.
I recently found out it was adapted into a mini-series of the same name, A Kind of Spark by CBCC. I can’t wait to watch it.
The last book is a children’s book called Flap your Hands: A Celebration of Stimming by autistic author and artist Steve Asbell. This beautifully illustrated picture book follows the journey from sensory overload to self-regulation through repetitive movements also known as “stimming.”
Happy reading everyone.
