Education
On the Joy of Learning
I hear a lot of questions from parents and professionals on how to motivate autistic children. But motivation itself isn’t the issue.
These are the books I recommend the most. And yes, I’ve read and vetted every one of them.
Not all are directly about autism; life isn’t that neatly compartmentalized.
Disclosure: links to Amazon.com and Bookshop.org are affiliate links, which means I get a small commission from purchases at no cost to you.
Adult Non-Fiction by Topic
- AiA: Author is Autistic
- HTP: Heather's Top Picks
Accepting Your Autistic Identity
| Title | About | Buy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Sincerely, Your Autistic Child: What People on the Autism Spectrum Wish Their Parents Knew About Growing Up, Acceptance, and Identity by Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network | This anthology tackles the everyday joys and challenges of growing up while honestly addressing the emotional needs, sensitivity, and vibrancy of autistic kids, youth, and young adults. | AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Pattern Seekers: How Autism Drives Human Invention by Simon Baron-Cohen | A groundbreaking argument about the link between autism and human ingenuity throughout history. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | The End of Average: Unlocking Our Potential by Embracing What Makes Us Different by Todd Rose | While we know people learn and develop in distinctive ways, these unique patterns of behaviors are lost in our schools and businesses which have been designed around the mythical “average person.” This model ignores our differences and fails at recognizing talent. It’s time to change it. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Aspergirls: Empowering Females with Asperger Syndrome by Rudy Simone | Rudy Simone guides you through every aspect of both personal and professional life, from early recollections of blame, guilt, and savant skills, to friendships, romance and marriage. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Shake It Up!: How to Be Young, Autistic, and Make an Impact by Quincy Hansen | This inspiring book by autistic blogger Quincy Hansen encourages autistic teens to find their voice and make a difference in the world around them. | AiA, HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism by Barry M. Prizant | Dr. Barry M. Prizant suggests the most successful approaches to autism don’t aim at fixing a person by eliminating symptoms, but rather seeking to understand the individual’s experience and what underlies the behavior. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | The Autism FAQ: Everything You Wanted to Know about Diagnosis & Autistic Life by Dr. Faith G. Harper and Joe Biel | Joe Biel and Dr. Faith G. Harper use real talk and accessible language discuss a wide range of topics, including the diagnostic criteria for autism and how they play out in practice, what it means for autism to be a disability, and co-occurring conditions like depression and anxiety. | AiA | Amazon |
 | Neuroqueer Heresies: Notes on the Neurodiversity Paradigm, Autistic Empowerment, and Postnormal Possibilities by Nick Walker | Neuroqueer Heresies collects a decade's worth of Dr. Walker's most influential writings, along with new commentary by the author and new material on her radical conceptualization of Neuroqueer Theory. | AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
- AiA: Author is Autistic
- HTP: Heather's Top Picks
Anxiety Management
| Title | About | Buy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Wisdom of Anxiety: How Worry and Intrusive Thoughts Are Gifts to Help You Heal by Sheryl Paul MA | Counselor Sheryl Paul examines the deeper meaning of the racing thoughts, sweaty palms, and insomnia that accompany the uncertain moments of our lives. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Healing Through the Dark Emotions: The Wisdom of Grief, Fear, and Despair by Miriam Greenspan | Greenspan teaches the art of emotional alchemy by which grief turns to gratitude, fear opens the door to joy, and despair becomes the ground of a more resilient faith in life. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Peace Is Every Breath by Thich Nhat Hanh | Thich Nhat Hanh’s Peace Is Every Breath opens a pathway to greater spiritual fulfillment through its patient examination of how we live our lives. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Adults by Dr Luke Beardon | This practical book gives clear strategies that the autistic person can adopt to minimise their anxiety and live comfortably in a world full of what may seem to be noise and chaos. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Children: A Guide for Autistic Wellbeing by Dr Luke Beardon | This book makes clear, autism should be celebrated and affirmed and helps you do that with practical strategies that will help happiness, not anxiety, remain the over-riding emotion that colours your child's memories of their early years. | Amazon Bookshop |
- AiA: Author is Autistic
- HTP: Heather's Top Picks
Autistic Autobiographies
| Title | About | Buy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: A Woman’s Walk in the Wild to Find Her Way Home by Katherine May | As Katherine May walks the 630-mile South West Coast Path, she comes to terms with her autism diagnosis leading her to re-evaluate her life so far -- with a much kinder, more forgiving eye. | AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism by Naoki Higashida | Naoki Higashida is a very smart, very self-aware, and very charming thirteen-year-old boy with severe autism. He describes how an autistic mind thinks, feels, perceives, and responds in ways few can imagine. | AiA, HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Autism in Heels: The Untold Story of a Female Life on the Spectrum by Jennifer Cook O'Toole | 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 with wit, candor, passion, and power. | AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism by Dawn Prince-Hughes Ph.D. | Having suffered from a lifelong inability to relate to people in a meaningful way, Dawn was surprised to find herself irresistibly drawn to these great primates. By observing and working with them, she was finally able to connect to living beings in a way she had never previously experienced. | AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Ido in Autismland: Climbing Out of Autism's Silent Prison by Ido Kedar | Ido opens a window into non-verbal autism through dozens of short, autobiographical essays each offering new insights into autism symptoms, effective and ineffective treatments and the inner emotional life of a severely autistic boy. | AiA, HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Explaining Humans: What Science Can Teach Us About Life, Love and Relationships by Dr Camilla Pang | Diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at the age of eight, Dr Camilla Pang struggled to understand the world around her. Desperate for a solution, Camilla asked her mother if there was an instruction manual for humans that she could consult. But, without the blueprint to life she was hoping for, Camilla began to create her own. | AiA, HTP | Amazon |
 | I Am Intelligent: From Heartbreak to Healing--A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Autism by Peyton Goddard, Dianne Goddard and Carol Cujec | A gripping look into the lives of a mother obsessed with curing her child of autism and a daughter who retains full awareness of her situation. | AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Nobody Nowhere: The Remarkable Autobiography of an Autistic Girl by Donna Williams | Donna Williams was a child with more labels than a jam-jar: deaf, wild disturbed, stupid insane... After twenty-five years of being misunderstood, and unable to understand herself, Donna stumbled upon the word 'autism': a label which made sense of her life and struggles, and gave her a chance to finally forgive both herself and those around her. | AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet | Daniel Tammet sees numbers as shapes, colors, and textures, and can perform extraordinary calculations in his head, learn to speak new languages fluently in a week, and recited more than 22,000 digits of pi, setting a record. He has savant syndrome, and describes what is happening in his head. | AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison | Ever since he was young, John Robison longed to connect with other people, but by the time he was a teenager, his odd habits had earned him the label "social deviant." It was not until he was forty that he was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. That understanding transformed the way he saw himself--and the world. | AiA, HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
- AiA: Author is Autistic
- HTP: Heather's Top Picks
Building Your Better Life
| Title | About | Buy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self by Martha Beck | Martha Beck presents a four-stage process that anyone can use to find integrity, a sense of purpose, emotional healing, and a life free of mental suffering. Much of what plagues us—people pleasing, staying in stale relationships, negative habits—all point to what happens when we are out of touch with what truly makes us feel whole. | HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner | Part travel memoir, part humor, and part twisted self-help guide, The Geography of Bliss takes the reader across the globe to investigate not what happiness is, but WHERE it is. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Dollars and Sense: How We Misthink Money and How to Spend Smarter by Dan Ariely and Jeff Kreisler | Behavioral economist Dan Ariely teams up with financial comedian and writer Jeff Kreisler to reveal the rationale and emotions behind our most head-scratching financial choices and offer clear guidance for navigating the treacherous financial landscape of the brain. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Move Your DNA: Restore Your Health Through Natural Movement, 2nd Edition by Katy Bowman | Katy Bowman has shaken up the health and wellness world, spreading the message that this culture’s sedentarism has become pervasive, and exercise is no longer a viable solution: movement is. | HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz | Don Miguel Ruiz reveals the source of self-limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and create needless suffering. Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, The Four Agreements offer a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brené Brown | A motivational and inspiring guide to wholehearted living, ok, with this groundbreaking work Brené Brown, Ph.D., explores the psychology of releasing our definitions of an "imperfect" life and embracing living authentically. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer | Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings--asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass--offer us gifts and lessons, even if we've forgotten how to hear their voices. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance: What Women Should Know by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman | Journalists Katty Kay and Claire Shipman travel to the frontiers of neuroscience, visit the world's leading psychologists, and interview women leaders from the worlds of politics, sports, the military, and the arts to learn the secrets of confidence. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III and Mark A. McDaniel | Many common study habits and practice routines turn out to be counterproductive. Underlining and highlighting, rereading, cramming, and single-minded repetition of new skills create the illusion of mastery, but gains fade quickly. Drawing on recent discoveries in cognitive psychology and other disciplines, the authors offer concrete techniques for becoming more productive learners. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Slow: Simple Living for a Frantic World by Brooke McAlary | After being diagnosed with post-natal depression, Brooke McAlary put the brakes on her stressful path and reorganized her life to emphasize depth, connection, and meaningful experiences. Brooke shares her story alongside practical advice for simplifying in ways that work for your life. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Sleep Smarter: 21 Essential Strategies to Sleep Your Way to A Better Body, Better Health, and Bigger Success by Shawn Stevenson | Learn how to create the ideal sleep sanctuary, how to hack sunlight to regulate your circadian rhythms, which clinically proven sleep nutrients and supplements you need, and stress-reduction exercises and fitness tips to keep you mentally and physically sharp. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Asperger's on the Job by Rudy Simone | There is more to a job than what the tasks are: from social blunders, to sensory issues, to bullying by coworkers, Simone presents solutions to difficult challenges based on her personal experiences and those of over fifty other adults with Asperger's. | AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Activate Your Vagus Nerve: Unleash Your Body's Natural Ability to Heal by Dr. Navaz Habib | This helpful guide provides all the tools you need to understand and heal your vagus nerve, the rest, digest and recovery system. You’ll learn simple yet powerful techniques to address a variety of ailments health challenges, like inflammation, gut sensitivity and brain fog, from their root causes originating with the vagus nerve. | Amazon | |
 | Finding Your Own North Star by Martha Beck | Martha Beck shares her step-by-step program that will guide you to fulfill your own potential. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert | Elizabeth Gilbert digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity, and encourages us to uncover the "strange jewels" that are hidden within each of us. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | The Four Day Win: End Your Diet War and Achieve Thinner Peace by Martha Beck | Not a conventional diet or exercise program, Martha Beck combines evolutionary logic, psychology, neuroplasticity, and humor, to teach the principles required to reverse weight issues. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | From What Is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want by Rob Hopkins | In this passionate exploration, Hopkins asks why imagination is in decline, and what we must do to revive and reclaim it. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock Potential in Yourself and Your Organization by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey | This persuasive and practical book, filled with hands-on diagnostics and compelling case studies, delivers the tools you need to overcome the forces of inertia and transform your life and your work. | Amazon Bookshop |
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| Shake It Up!: How to Be Young, Autistic, and Make an Impact by Quincy Hansen | This inspiring book by autistic blogger Quincy Hansen encourages autistic teens to find their voice and make a difference in the world around them. | AiA, HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Whole Brain Living: The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life by Jill Bolte Taylor | Dr. Taylor shows us how to get acquainted with our own Four Characters of our brains, observe how they show up in our daily life, and learn to identify and relate to them in others as well. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David J. Epstein | Provocative, rigorous, and engrossing, Range makes a compelling case for actively cultivating inefficiency. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World by John Mark Comer | Within the pages of this book, you’ll find a fascinating roadmap to staying emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Autism Relationships Handbook: How to Thrive in Friendships, Dating, and Love by Dr. Faith G. Harper and Joe Biel | Dr. Faith G. Harper, author of Unf*ck Your Brain and Unf*ck Your Intimacy, joins autistic publisher and author Joe Biel to offer hard-won guidance on a wide range of topics about friendships, dating, and romance and answer a ton of questions. | AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | What Works: A Comprehensive Framework to Change the Way We Approach Goal Setting By Tara McMullin | In this book, you’ll explore what’s driving your pursuit of “more” (more money, more things, more prestige, etc.), set commitments to help orient your growth, and organize your actions as part of a holistic learning process. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | The Lion Tracker's Guide To Life by Boyd Varty | Somewhere deep inside, you know what your gift, purpose, and mission are. Boyd Varty, a lion tracker and life coach, reveals how the wisdom from the ancient art of tracking can teach you how to recognize these essential ingredients in a meaningful life. | Amazon Bookshop |
- AiA: Author is Autistic
- HTP: Heather's Top Picks
Decolonization Work
| Title | About | Buy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A'S, Praise, and Other Bribes by Alfie Kohn | Drawing from hundreds of studies, Kohn demonstrates that we actually do inferior work when we are enticed with money, grades, or other incentives—and are apt to lose interest in whatever we were bribed to do. | HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Profit Without Oppression by Kim Crayton | This book charts an inclusionary strategic path forward that seeks to develop an economic ethos and series of business models that are supremacy-, coercion-, discrimination-, and exploitation-free. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey | Tricia Hersey casts an illuminating light on our troubled relationship with rest and how to imagine and dream our way to a future where rest is exalted. Our worth does not reside in how much we produce, especially not for a system that exploits and dehumanizes us. | Amazon Bookshop |
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| What Works: A Comprehensive Framework to Change the Way We Approach Goal Setting by Tara McMullin | In the book, you'll explore what's driving your pursuit of "more" (more money, more things, more prestige, etc.), set commitments to help orient your growth, and organize your actions as part of a holistic learning process. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings | An important and original work, Fearing the Black Body argues convincingly that fat phobia isn't about health at all, but rather a means of using the body to validate race, class, and gender prejudice. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Empire of Normality: Neurodiversity and Capitalism by Robert Chapman | Exploring the rich histories of the neurodiversity and disability movements, Robert Chapman shows how the rise of capitalism created an ‘empire of normality’ that transformed our understanding of the body into that of a productivity machine. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Decolonizing Wealth by Edgar Villanueva | Decolonizing Wealth is a provocative analysis of the dysfunctional colonial dynamics at play in philanthropy and finance. With great compassion, Villanueva is able to both diagnose the fatal flaws in philanthropy and provide thoughtful solutions to these systemic imbalances. | Amazon Bookshop |
- AiA: Author is Autistic
- HTP: Heather's Top Picks
Dissolving Internalized Ableism
| Title | About | Buy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life by Byron Katie and Stephen Mitchell | Discover the truth hiding behind troubling thoughts with Byron Katie's self-help classic. The Work is simply four questions that, when applied to a specific problem, enable you to see what is troubling you in an entirely different light. | HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
| The Four Day Win: End Your Diet War and Achieve Thinner Peace by Martha Beck | Not a conventional diet or exercise program, Martha Beck combines evolutionary logic, psychology, neuroplasticity, and humor, to teach the principles required to reverse weight issues. | Amazon Bookshop |
|
| The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self by Martha Beck | Martha Beck shows how to read our internal signals that lead us towards our true path, and to recognize what we actually yearn for versus what our culture sells us. | HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
| The Wisdom of Anxiety: How Worry and Intrusive Thoughts Are Gifts to Help You Heal by Sheryl Paul MA | Counselor Sheryl Paul examines the deeper meaning of the racing thoughts, sweaty palms, and insomnia that accompany the uncertain moments of our lives. | HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
| Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock Potential in Yourself and Your Organization by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey | This persuasive and practical book, filled with hands-on diagnostics and compelling case studies, delivers the tools you need to overcome the forces of inertia and transform your life and your work. | Amazon Bookshop |
|
| The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz and Janet Mills | The Four Agreements offer a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by Steven C. Hayes | As you work through this book, you’ll learn to let go of your struggle against pain, assess your values, and then commit to acting in ways that further those values. | HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Self-Reg: How to Help Your Child (and You) Break the Stress Cycle and Successfully Engage with Life by Dr. Stuart Shanker | Dr. Shanker translates decades of his findings from working with children into practical, prescriptive advice for parents, giving them concrete ways to develop their self-regulation skills and teach their children to do the same and engage successfully with life for optimal learning, social, and emotional growth. | HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
| Healing Through the Dark Emotions: The Wisdom of Grief, Fear, and Despair by Miriam Greenspan | Greenspan teaches the art of emotional alchemy by which grief turns to gratitude, fear opens the door to joy, and despair becomes the ground of a more resilient faith in life. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | The Joy Diet: 10 Daily Practices for a Happier Life by Martha Beck | No matter what your long-term goals are, The Joy Diet, written with Martha Beck’s inimitable blend of wisdom, practical guidance, and humor, will help you achieve the immediate gift of joyful living in the here and now. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Being Realistic Isn't Realistic: Collected essays on disability, identity, inclusion and innovation by Emma C. Van Der Klift and Norman Kunc | In this engaging, humorous and provocative collection of essays, Emma Van der Klift and Norman Kunc gently prod us to rethink many taken for granted and unquestioned assumptions about the nature of disability. | AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
- AiA: Author is Autistic
- HTP: Heather's Top Picks
Energy Management/Recovery
| Title | About | Buy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing by KC Davis | With KC’s help, your home will feel like a sanctuary again. It will become a place to rest, even when things aren’t finished. You will move with ease, and peace and calm will edge out guilt, self-criticism, and endless checklists. They have no place here. | HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Compassion Book: Lessons from The Compassion Course by Thom Bond | The Compassion Book is a handbook that explains and demonstrates specific ways of thinking, speaking, and acting that help us experience more compassion, understanding, and harmony in our daily lives. | HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
| Slow: Simple Living for a Frantic World by Brooke McAlary | After being diagnosed with post-natal depression, Brooke McAlary put the brakes on her stressful path and reorganized her life to emphasize depth, connection, and meaningful experiences. Brooke shares her story alongside practical advice for simplifying in ways that work for your life. | Amazon Bookshop |
|
| Sleep Smarter: 21 Essential Strategies to Sleep Your Way to A Better Body, Better Health, and Bigger Success by Shawn Stevenson | Learn how to create the ideal sleep sanctuary, how to hack sunlight to regulate your circadian rhythms, which clinically proven sleep nutrients and supplements you need, and stress-reduction exercises and fitness tips to keep you mentally and physically sharp. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang | Alex Soojung-Kim Pang combines rigorous scientific research with a rich array of examples of writers, painters, and thinkers to challenge our tendency to see work and relaxation as antithetical. | Amazon Bookshop |
- AiA: Author is Autistic
- HTP: Heather's Top Picks
Parenting Resources
| Title | About | Buy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-Reg: How to Help Your Child (and You) Break the Stress Cycle and Successfully Engage with Life by Dr. Stuart Shanker | Dr. Shanker translates decades of his findings from working with children into practical, prescriptive advice for parents, giving them concrete ways to develop their self-regulation skills and teach their children to do the same and engage successfully with life for optimal learning, social, and emotional growth. | HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
| Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism by Barry M. Prizant | Dr. Barry M. Prizant suggests the most successful approaches to autism don’t aim at fixing a person by eliminating symptoms, but rather seeking to understand the individual’s experience and what underlies the behavior. | Amazon Bookshop |
|
| Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A'S, Praise, and Other Bribes by Alfie Kohn | Drawing from hundreds of studies, Kohn demonstrates that we actually do inferior work when we are enticed with money, grades, or other incentives—and are apt to lose interest in whatever we were bribed to do. | HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Beyond Behaviors: Using Brain Science and Compassion to Understand and Solve Children's Behavioral Challenges by Mona Delahooke | Dr. Mona Delahooke describes behaviors as the tip of the iceberg, important signals that we should address by seeking to understand a child’s individual differences in the context of relational safety. Features worksheets, tools and techniques to reduce behavioral challenges and promote psychological resilience and satisfying, secure relationships. | HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Balanced and Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children by Angela J. Hanscom | In this important book, a pediatric occupational therapist and founder of TimberNook shows how outdoor play and unstructured freedom of movement are vital for children's cognitive development and growth, and offers tons of fun, engaging ways to help ensure that kids grow into healthy, balanced, and resilient adults. | Amazon Bookshop |
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| Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III and Mark A. McDaniel | Many common study habits and practice routines turn out to be counterproductive. Drawing on recent discoveries in cognitive psychology and other disciplines, the authors offer concrete techniques for becoming more productive learners. | Amazon Bookshop |
|
 | Scattered: How ADD Originates and What You Can Do about It by Gabor Maté MD | Dr. Gabor Maté believes that our social and emotional environments play a key role in both the cause of and cure for Attention Deficit Disorder. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | The Asperkid's Game Plan: Extraordinary Minds, Purposeful Play... Ordinary Stuff by Jennifer Cook O'Toole | The Asperkid's Game Plan looks from the inside at the learning style of children with Asperger syndrome and explains how to introduce structured play that engages Asperkids and explicitly addresses ASD weaknesses while reinforcing ASD strengths. | AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | What Your Child on the Spectrum Really Needs: Advice From 12 Autistic Adults by Jenna Gensic | This book is different from other autism parenting guides in that the advice mentioned has been generated solely from the autistic individuals themselves, divulging what has helped or hurt them as they navigated childhood and adulthood as autistic individuals. | AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Asperkids: An Insider's Guide to Loving, Understanding and Teaching Children with Asperger Syndrome by Jennifer Cook O'Toole | As a parent, a teacher and an Aspie herself, Jennifer Cook O'Toole provides a unique insider's look into Asperger Syndrome. She shows how to help children on the spectrum by understanding how they think and exploiting their special interests to promote learning. Her strategies work because she thinks like the children that she teaches. | AiA, HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson | When facing contentious issues such as screen time, food choices, and bedtime, children often act out or shut down, responding with reactivity instead of receptivity. Siegel calls this a No Brain response. But our kids can learn to approach life with openness and curiosity, a Yes Brain. This book gives parents skills, scripts, and activities to bring kids of all ages into a “yes” state. | HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Making Sense: A Guide to Sensory Issues by Rachel S. Schneider M.A. MHC | In this guide, mental health counselor, SPD community advocate, and sensory adult Rachel S. Schneider MA MHC helps us to make sense of sensory issues. and answers your questions about life with sensory processing differences. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | The Learning Tree: Overcoming Learning Disabilities from the Ground Up by Stanley I. Greenspan and Nancy Thorndike Greenspan | The Learning Tree offers a new understanding of learning problems. Rather than looking just at symptoms, this new approach describes how to find the missing developmental steps that cause these symptoms. The best solution to the problem comes from knowing what essential skills to strengthen. | Amazon Bookshop |
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| Sincerely, Your Autistic Child: What People on the Autism Spectrum Wish Their Parents Knew about Growing Up, Acceptance, and Identity by Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network | A diverse collection of autistic contributors reflect on what they have learned while growing up on the autism spectrum and how parents can avoid common mistakes and overcome challenges while raising their child. | AiA, HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Transgender Teen: A Handbook for Parents and Professionals Supporting Transgender and Non-Binary Teens by Stephanie Brill and Lisa Kenney | Is it just a phase, a fad, or a real issue with your teen? This comprehensive guidebook explores the unique challenges that thousands of families face every day raising a teenager who may be transgender, gender-variant or gender-fluid. | Amazon Bookshop |
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| Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Children: A Guide for Autistic Wellbeing by Dr Luke Beardon | This book makes clear, autism should be celebrated and affirmed and helps you do that with practical strategies that will help happiness, not anxiety, remain the over-riding emotion that colours your child's memories of their early years. | Amazon Bookshop |
- AiA: Author is Autistic
- HTP: Heather's Top Picks
Sensory-Friendly Living
| Title | About | Buy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight: What to Do If You Are Sensory Defensive in an Overstimulating World by Sharon Heller | With empathy, compassion, and practical tools, a developmental psychologist and sufferer of Sensory Defensive Disorder sheds light on a little known but common affliction in which sufferers react to harmless stimuli as irritating, distracting, or dangerous. | HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You by Elaine N. Aron Ph.D. | Most of us feel overstimulated every once in a while, but for the highly sensitive person, it's a way of life. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Elaine Aron, a highly sensitive person herself, shows you how to identify this trait in yourself and make the most of it in everyday situations. | Amazon Bookshop |
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| Sleep Smarter: 21 Essential Strategies to Sleep Your Way to A Better Body, Better Health, and Bigger Success by Shawn Stevenson | Learn how to create the ideal sleep sanctuary, how to hack sunlight to regulate your circadian rhythms, which clinically proven sleep nutrients and supplements you need, and stress-reduction exercises and fitness tips to keep you mentally and physically sharp. | Amazon Bookshop |
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| Making Sense: A Guide to Sensory Issues by Rachel Schneider | Whether you’re someone with sensory issues, a loved one supporting a sensory person, a professional, or someone that is curious about unusual and complex sensory experiences, this guide will answer your questions about life with sensory processing differences. | Amazon Bookshop |
- AiA: Author is Autistic
- HTP: Heather's Top Picks
Socializing
| Title | About | Buy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explaining Humans: What Science Can Teach Us About Life, Love and Relationships by Dr Camilla Pang | Diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at the age of eight, Dr Camilla Pang struggled to understand the world around her. Desperate for a solution, Camilla asked her mother if there was an instruction manual for humans that she could consult. But, without the blueprint to life she was hoping for, Camilla began to create her own. | AiA, HTP | Amazon |
 | What to Say Next: Successful Communication in Work, Life, and Love—with Autism Spectrum Disorder by Sarah Nannery | At a time when more and more people are being diagnosed with ASD—especially women and girls—this book tells important truths about what it takes to make it in a neurotypical world, and still be true to yourself. | AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Unf*ck Your Boundaries: Build Better Relationships Through Consent, Communication, and Expressing Your Needs by Dr Faith G Harper | Dr. Faith Harper offers a full understanding of issues of boundaries and consent, how we can communicate and listen more effectively, and how to survive and move on from situations where our boundaries are violated. | Amazon Bookshop |
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| The Compassion Book: Lessons from The Compassion Course by Thom Bond | The Compassion Book is a handbook that explains and demonstrates specific ways of thinking, speaking, and acting that help us experience more compassion, understanding, and harmony in our daily lives. | HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships by Marshall B. Rosenberg and Deepak Chopra | Nonviolent Communication serves our desire to do three things: - Increase our ability to live with choice, meaning, and connection - Connect empathically with self and others to have more satisfying relationships - Sharing of resources so everyone is able to benefit | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People by Joe Navarro and Marvin Karlins | Joe Navarro, a former FBI counterintelligence officer and a recognized expert on nonverbal behavior, explains how to "speed-read" people: decode sentiments and behaviors, avoid hidden pitfalls, and look for deceptive behaviors. | Amazon Bookshop |
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| Asperger's on the Job by Rudy Simone | There is more to a job than what the tasks are: from social blunders, to sensory issues, to bullying by coworkers, Simone presents solutions to difficult challenges based on her personal experiences and those of over fifty other adults with Asperger's. | AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Queen Bees and Wannabes, 3rd Edition: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boys, and the New Realities of Girl World by Rosalind Wiseman | Queen Bees and Wannabes will equip you with all the tools you need to build the right foundation to help your daughter make smarter choices and empower her during this baffling, tumultuous time of life. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know by Malcolm Gladwell | Something is very wrong, Malcolm Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don’t know. And because we don’t know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world. | Amazon Bookshop |
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| The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance---What Women Should Know by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman | Kay and Shipman go beyond admonishing women to "lean in." Instead, they offer the inspiration and practical advice women need to close the gap and achieve the careers they want and deserve. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You by Sam Gosling | By exploring our private worlds, Sam Gosling shows not only how we showcase our personalities in unexpected-and unplanned-ways, but also how we create personality in the first place, communicate it to others, and interpret the world around us. | Amazon Bookshop |
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| Autism Relationships Handbook: How to Thrive in Friendships, Dating, and Love by Dr. Faith G. Harper and Joe Biel | Dr. Faith G. Harper, author of Unf*ck Your Brain and Unf*ck Your Intimacy, joins autistic publisher and author Joe Biel to offer hard-won guidance on a wide range of topics about friendships, dating, and romance and answer a ton of questions. | AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
- AiA: Author is Autistic
- HTP: Heather's Top Picks
Trauma and Recovery
| Title | About | Buy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk M.D. | Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, show show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. | Amazon Bookshop |
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| Activate Your Vagus Nerve: Unleash Your Body's Natural Ability to Heal by Dr. Navaz Habib | This helpful guide provides all the tools you need to understand and heal your vagus nerve, the rest, digest and recovery system. You’ll learn simple yet powerful techniques to address a variety of ailments health challenges, like inflammation, gut sensitivity and brain fog, from their root causes originating with the vagus nerve. | Amazon | |
| The Four Day Win: End Your Diet War and Achieve Thinner Peace by Martha Beck | Not a conventional diet or exercise program, Martha Beck combines evolutionary logic, psychology, neuroplasticity, and humor, to teach the principles required to reverse weight issues. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Your Symphony of Selves: Discover and Understand More of Who We Are by James Fadiman and Jordan Gruber | Why you are a different you at different times and how that’s both normal and healthy. James Fadiman and Jordan Gruber show that each of us is comprised of distinct, autonomous, and inherently valuable “selves.” | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model by Ph.D. Schwartz, Richard | “All of us are born with many sub-minds—or parts,” says Dr. Schwartz. “These parts are not imaginary or symbolic. They are individuals who exist as an internal family within us—and the key to health and happiness is to honor, understand, and love every part.” | Amazon Bookshop |
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| Healing Through the Dark Emotions: The Wisdom of Grief, Fear, and Despair by Miriam Greenspan | Greenspan teaches the art of emotional alchemy by which grief turns to gratitude, fear opens the door to joy, and despair becomes the ground of a more resilient faith in life. | Amazon Bookshop |
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 | Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter A. Levine and Ann Frederick | Waking the Tiger offers a new and hopeful vision of trauma. It views the human animal as a unique being, endowed with an instinctual capacity. | Amazon Bookshop |
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| Whole Brain Living: The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life by Jill Bolte Taylor | Dr. Taylor shows us how to get acquainted with our own Four Characters of our brains, observe how they show up in our daily life, and learn to identify and relate to them in others as well. | Amazon Bookshop |
- AiA: Author is Autistic
- HTP: Heather's Top Picks
Unmasking
| Title | About | Buy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity by Devon Price | It’s time to honor the needs, diversity, and unique strengths of Autistic people so that they no longer have to mask. In embracing neurodiversity, we can all reap the rewards of nonconformity and learn to live authentically, Autistic and neurotypical people alike. | AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life by Parker J. Palmer | Mapping an inner journey that we take in solitude and in the company of others, Palmer describes a form of community that fits the limits of our active lives. | Amazon Bookshop |
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| The Compassion Book: Lessons from The Compassion Course by Thom Bond | The Compassion Book is a handbook that explains and demonstrates specific ways of thinking, speaking, and acting that help us experience more compassion, understanding, and harmony in our daily lives. | HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
| Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships by Marshall B. Rosenberg and Deepak Chopra | Nonviolent Communication serves our desire to do three things: - Increase our ability to live with choice, meaning, and connection - Connect empathically with self and others to have more satisfying relationships - Sharing of resources so everyone is able to benefit | Amazon Bookshop |
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| Unf*ck Your Boundaries: Build Better Relationships Through Consent, Communication, and Expressing Your Needs by Dr Faith G Harper | Dr. Faith Harper offers a full understanding of issues of boundaries and consent, how we can communicate and listen more effectively, and how to survive and move on from situations where our boundaries are violated. | Amazon Bookshop |
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| Shake It Up!: How to Be Young, Autistic, and Make an Impact by Quincy Hansen | This inspiring book by autistic blogger Quincy Hansen encourages autistic teens to find their voice and make a difference in the world around them. | AiA, HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
Youth Books by Age
- F: Fiction
- NF: Non-Fiction
- AiA: Author is Autistic
- HTP: Heather's Top Picks
Neurodiversity-Positive Picture Books
| Title | About | Buy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | A Friend for Henry by Jenn Bailey and Mika Song | Henry is a little different than the other kids in his class, but he wants a friend, too. | F HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon | Penguin has an idea of who Pinecone should be, but when he finds out that isn't who Pinecone is, he helps his friend thrive as himself. | F HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Weslandia by Paul Fleischman and Kevin Hawkes | Wesley turns his inventive way of looking at the world to a unique summer project. | F HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Sophie's Squash Go to School by Pat Zietlow Miller and Anne Wilsdorf | Sophie gets along better with her two squash friends than with her classmates. | F | Amazon Bookshop |
 | I Go Quiet by David Ouimet | Gorgeous illustrations. For those of us who go quiet sometimes. | F | Amazon Bookshop |
 | I'm Sad by Michael Ian Black and Debbie Ridpath Ohi | One of the best explanations I've ever seen about feeling sad. | F | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld | Sometimes the best thing a friend can do to fix an upset is...just to listen. | F | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Love, Sophia on the Moon by Anica Mrose Rissi and Mika Song | Sophia learns that even though sometimes mom yells, and even though there is bedtime, and time outs, mom still loves her very much. | F | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein | Perfectionism can be a tough act to live up to. | F | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Too Sticky! by Jen Malia and Joanne Lew-Vriethoff | Holly loves doing experiments, but when she finds out the next one is making slime, she's worried. Holly doesn't like touching sticky things. | F AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Girl Who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin by Julia Finley Mosca and Daniel Rieley | A biography of Temple Grandin. | NF | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Can I Play Too? by Samantha Cotterill | Two boys' fun train-track-building project takes a turn when one of the boys obliviously insists on only doing things his way. | F AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | On Wings of Words: The Extraordinary Life of Emily Dickinson by Jennifer Berne and Becca Stadtlander | In a small New England town lives Emily Dickinson, a girl in love with small things--a flower petal, a bird, a ray of light, a word. (Current thinking is that Emily was likely autistic.) Gorgeous illustrations. | F | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Stick and Stone by Beth Ferry and Tom Lichtenheld | When Stick rescues Stone from a prickly situation with a Pinecone, the pair becomes fast friends. But when Stick gets stuck, can Stone return the favor? | F HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | A Place for Zero by Angeline Sparagna LoPresti and Phyllis Hornung | Zero is lonely in Digitaria. He can't play Addemup with the other numbers because he has nothing to add, but when zero discovers multiplication he thinks he might have a place there. | F | Amazon Bookshop |
- F: Fiction
- NF: Non-Fiction
- AiA: Author is Autistic
- HTP: Heather's Top Picks
Autism-Positive Middle Grade Books
| Title | About | Buy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | We Could Be Heroes by Margaret Finnegan | Hank is autistic and hasn't had a real friend before, until Maisie attaches herself to him, opening his world. | F HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng | Alex follows his own sense of right and wrong in pursuing his love of space and figuring out his family. | F HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
 | In Two Worlds by Ido Kedar | A non-speaking autistic boy feels like his life is passing him by...until one day everything changes. | F AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Real by Carol Cujec and Peyton Goddard | Charity, a non-speaking autistic girl, struggles to control her body and show the world what she can do and who she is. | F AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | I am Aspiengirl by Tania Marshall | A showcase of the unique characteristics, traits and gifts of girls on the Autism Spectrum. | NF | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Asperkid's Secret Book of Social Rules by Jennifer Cook | A top secret guide to all of the hidden social rules in life that often seem strange and confusing to young people with Asperger syndrome. | NF AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | A Boy Called Bat (Bk. 1) by Elana K. Arnold | Bixby Alexander Tam (nicknamed Bat), loves animals. His mom, a veterinarian, has brought home a baby skunk, which she needs to take care of until she can hand him over to a wild-animal shelter. But the minute Bat meets the kit, he knows they belong together. And he's got one month to show his mom that a baby skunk might just make a pretty terrific pet. | F | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Bat and the Waiting Game (Bk. 2) by Elana K. Arnold | When Bat's older sister, Janie, gets a part in the school play and can’t watch Bat after school, it means some pretty big changes, and Bat just wants everything to go back to normal. | F | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Bat and the End of Everything (Bk. 3) by Elana K. Arnold | Bat) has been the caretaker for Thor, the best skunk kit in the world...but Thor is almost ready to be released into the wild. Not only that, but his best friend is leaving for a long vacation in Canada. Bat can’t help but feel that everything is coming to an end. | F | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin | Jason Blake is an autistic twelve-year-old who finds a glimmer of understanding when he comes across PhoenixBird, who posts stories to the same online site as he does. But as desperate as he is to meet her, he's terrified that if they do meet, Rebecca will only see his autism and not who Jason really is. | F | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Someday Birds by Sally J. Pla | When his father heads from California to Virginia for medical treatment, Charlie, an autistic boy who feels he doesn't understand the world, reluctantly travels cross-country with his boy-crazy sister, unruly brothers, and a mysterious new family friend. He decides that if he can spot all the birds that he and his father were hoping to see someday along the way, then everything might just turn out okay. | F AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Awesome Autistic Go-To Guide: A Practical Handbook for Autistic Teens and Tweens by Yenn Purkis and Tanya Masterman | Full of insights about being awesome and autistic, this book celebrates the strengths of understanding the world in a different way. It looks at all the reasons being you and thinking differently can be totally awesome! It also has tips for managing tricky situations such as meltdowns, sensory differences and anxiety. This book helps you develop the confidence to be who you are. | NF AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Teen Guide to Sensory Issues by Rachel S. Schneider | In this guide, written especially for teens and those who love them, Rachel S. Schneider, MA, MHC, breaks the challenges of sensory teenagehood into hilarious, thoughtful, and manageable chunks. Through personal stories as well as tips and tricks to survive and thrive during these years, Rachel reminds us that we're not alone. | NF AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll | An autistic girl who fixates on how her town treated "witches" in the past, simply because these women were different, and fights to make it right. | F AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Planet Earth Is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos | Nova is a non-speaking autistic girl who loves space and her sister, but they've lived in foster homes for years and were just split up. Will they find each other in time for the launch of the space shuttle Challenger? | F | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis | Emma-Jean Lazarus is the smartest and strangest girl at her school. Her classmates don't understand her, but that's okay because Emma-Jean doesn't quite get them either. But one afternoon, all that changes when she sees Colleen Pomerantz crying in the girl's room. | F | Amazon |
 | Can You See Me? by Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott | Tally isn't ashamed of being autistic, or her PDA, but something is different about sixth grade, and Tally now feels like she has to act normal. But as Tally hides her true self, she starts to wonder what normal means after all and whether fitting in is really what matters most. | F AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen | Stewart, 13: Socially clueless genius. Ashley, 14: Popular with everyone but her teachers. Ashley's and Stewart's worlds collide when Stewart and his dad move in with Ashley and her mom. | F | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Willodeen by Katherine Applegate | Eleven-year-old Willodeen adores the strange beasts known as "screechers" that her village sees as pests. Her fierce determination to stand up for them may solve another mystery as well. | F | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Moojag and the Auticode Secret by N.E. McMORRAN | When Nema and her friends discover a hidden sugar-hooked society holding lost kids, they find their perfect world in danger. The strange, sticky place hides the truth about Nema’s missing brother, and a plot to destroy the free life she knows. | F AiA | Amazon |
- F: Fiction
- NF: Non-Fiction
- AiA: Author is Autistic
- HTP: Heather's Top Picks
Autism-Positive Young Adult Books
| Title | About | Buy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Underdogs by Chris Bonnello | One million cloned soldiers. A nation imprisoned. Only a group of neurodivergent rebels, most of whom are teenagers, are fighting back. After a lifetime of being defined by their weaknesses, they must learn how to play to their strengths. | F AiA | Amazon |
 | Geek Girl by Holly Smale | Harriet is a geeky girl who accidentally steals her best friend's dream to be a famous model, leading to many funny situations. | F AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor | A nonbinary autistic teen realizes they must not only solve a 30-year-old mystery but also face the demons lurking in their past in order to live a satisfying life. | F AiA HTP | Amazon Bookshop |
| The Asperkid's Secret Book of Social Rules by Jennifer Cook | A top secret guide to all of the hidden social rules in life that often seem strange and confusing to young people with Asperger syndrome. | NF AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | I am AspienWoman by Tania Marshall | A showcase of the unique characteristics, traits and gifts of teens and women on the Autism Spectrum. | NF AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
| The Awesome Autistic Go-To Guide: A Practical Handbook for Autistic Teens and Tweens by Yenn Purkis and Tanya Masterman | Full of insights about being awesome and autistic, this book celebrates the strengths of understanding the world in a different way. It looks at all the reasons being you and thinking differently can be totally awesome! It also has tips for managing tricky situations such as meltdowns, sensory differences and anxiety. This book helps you develop the confidence to be who you are. | NF AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
| The Teen Guide to Sensory Issues by Rachel S. Schneider | In this guide, written especially for teens and those who love them, Rachel S. Schneider, MA, MHC, breaks the challenges of sensory teenagehood into hilarious, thoughtful, and manageable chunks. Through personal stories as well as tips and tricks to survive and thrive during these years, Rachel reminds us that we're not alone. | NF AiA | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Wildoak by C.C. Harrington | Wildoak shimmers with beauty, compassion, and unforgettable storytelling as it explores the delicate interconnectedness of the human, animal, and natural worlds. | F | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman | Iselia “Seelie” Graygrove looks just like her twin, Isolde…but as an autistic changeling left in the human world by the fae as an infant, she has always known she is different. Seelie’s unpredictable magic makes it hard for her to fit in—and draws her and Isolde into the hunt for a fabled treasure. | F | Amazon Bookshop |
- F: Fiction
- NF: Non-Fiction
- AiA: Author is Autistic
- HTP: Heather's Top Picks
Neurodiversity-Positive MG and YA Books
| Title | About | Diversity Representation (Trigger Warnings) | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Underdogs by Chris Bonnello | One million cloned soldiers. A nation imprisoned. Only a group of neurodivergent rebels, most of whom are teenagers, are fighting back. After a lifetime of being defined by their weaknesses, the teens must learn how to play to their strengths, and become the best they can be in a world that has never been on their side. | Autism PDA ADHD Down Syndrome Selective Mutism Neurodiversity (Violence) | Amazon |
 | The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister | Emmeline lives on a remote island with her father, who teaches her about the natural world through her senses, until one day Emmeline is vaulted out into the real world. To understand her past, Emmeline must unlock the clues to her identity, a quest that challenges the limits of her heart and imagination. | Sensory Diversity (Bereavement) | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card | To defend against a hostile alien race, governments train child geniuses as soldiers. Ender's skills make him a leader in school, yet he suffers from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and fear of the alien invaders. Can he be the general Earth needs? | Giftedness | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Brave by James Bird | A boy's speech compulsions make him an outcast and target for bullying, until he finds people who see it completely differently, who see him differently. | OCD BIPOC (Terminal Illness) | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Giver by Lois Lowry | In a world where sameness is idealized and differences minimized, a boy is singled out for a unique role in his community. | Sensory Diversity Neurodiversity | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone | Samantha McAllister is one of the popular girls. But hidden beneath her perfect makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off. When Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, everything changes, but will it be for the better? | Purely-Obsessional OCD (Suicide) | Amazon Bookshop |
 | How to Disappear Completely by Ali Standish | Beautifully written, a wonderful story of coping with changes you don't want, learning to be your best self, and seeing the best in others. | Vitiligo Physical Differences | Amazon Bookshop |
 | List of Ten by Halli Gomez | Troy Hayes is fed up with humiliation, loneliness, and physical pain, and creates a list of ten things to do by the tenth anniversary of his Tourettes diagnosis—culminating in suicide. But working his way through the list changes Troy. | Tourettes OCD (Suicide) | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Forget Me Not by Ellie Terry | Astronomy-loving Calliope June sometimes makes faces or noises that she doesn't mean to make. Only Calliope's new neighbor, who is also the popular student body president, sees her as she truly is--an interesting person and a good friend. But is he brave enough to take their friendship public? | Tourettes | Amazon Bookshop |
 | A Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen | The moment Spencer meets Hope the summer before seventh grade, it's . . . something at first sight. Through sibling feuds and family tragedies, new relationships and broken hearts, the two grow together and apart, and Spencer tries to map it all out. | Tourettes (Bereavement) | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Easy Part of Impossible by Sarah Tomp | Ria Williams was an elite diver on track for the Olympics until a freak accident at a meet changes everything. Can she figure out what she really wants when the thing she loves is so tangled up in the thing she fears the most? | ADHD Autism (Emotional Abuse) | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt | Ally hides her inability to read, which sometimes creates difficult, awkward, and frustrating situations. Then everything changes when she gets a new teacher and opens up to two potential friends. She learns not to be so hard on herself and that dyslexia is nothing to be ashamed of. | Dyslexia Autism | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Holding up the Universe by Jennifer Niven | Jack Masselin cannot recognize faces, not even his family's, and Libby Strout's size makes it impossible for her to hide. The two hurt and help each other as they challenge the assumptions people make about who they really are. | Prosopagnosia Physical Differences (Fat Shaming) | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty | Lucy Callahan's life was changed forever when she was struck by lightning. She doesn't remember it, but the zap gave her genius-level math skills, and she's been homeschooled ever since. Now, at 12 years old, she's technically ready for college. She just has to pass 1 more test--middle school. | Giftedness | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz | Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship. | Neurodiversity Homosexuality BIPOC | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling | Aven is a spunky girl born without arms. Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined. | Physical Differences Tourettes BIPOC | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling | Aven's about to begin high school . . . with 3,000 new kids to stare at her. And no matter how much Aven tries to play it cool, nothing prepares her for the reality. | Physical Differences Tourettes BIPOC | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan | Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius with OCD tendencies whose life gets turned upside down when a car crash kills her parents. | Giftedness OCD BIPOC | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan | Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school . . . and mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. | ADHD | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede | Princess Cimorene is everything a princess is not suppose to be, and out of boredom she runs away to live with one of the most powerful dragons around. She continues to find more dangerous characters and some excitement. | Neurodiversity | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Show Me a Sign by Ann Clare Lezotte | Mary Lambert has always felt safe and protected on her beloved island of Martha's Vineyard. But recent events have delivered winds of change. | Deafness | Amazon Bookshop |
| Moojag and the Auticode Secret by N.E. McMORRAN | When Nema and her friends discover a hidden sugar-hooked society holding lost kids, they find their perfect world in danger. The strange, sticky place hides the truth about Nema’s missing brother, and a plot to destroy the free life she knows. | Autism Dyslexia ADHD Neurodiversity | Amazon |
 | Figure It Out, Henri Weldon, by Tanita S. Davis | A story featuring middle school and family life--all about the complex calculations it takes for everyone to balance the equations of their lives and what it takes to be part of a team while handling a learning disability. | Learning Disability BIPOC | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Stanley Will Probably Be Fine by Sally J Pla | Nobody knows comics trivia like Stanley knows comics trivia. It’s what he takes comfort in when the world around him gets to be too much. And after he faints during a safety assembly, Stanley takes his love of comics up a level by inventing his own imaginary superhero, named John Lockdown, to help him through. | Neurodiversity | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor | Sunny Nwazue lives in Nigeria, but she was born in New York City. Her features are West African, but she's albino. She's a terrific athlete, but can't go out into the sun to play soccer. There seems to be no place where she fits in. And then she discovers something amazing—she is a "free agent" with latent magical power. And she has a lot of catching up to do. | ADHD Dyslexia Non-western Culture Physical Differences | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White | London, 1883. The Veil between the living and dead has thinned. Violet-eyed mediums commune with spirits under the watchful eye of the Royal Speaker Society, and sixteen-year-old trans, autistic Silas Bell would rather rip out his violet eyes than become an obedient Speaker wife. | Autism Trans | Amazon Bookshop |
- F: Fiction
- NF: Non-Fiction
- AiA: Author is Autistic
- HTP: Heather's Top Picks
Diversity-Positive YA and Adult Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books
| Title | About | Diversity Representation (Trigger Warnings) | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko | Tarisai was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as The Lady. The Lady sends her to compete to be one of the Crown Prince's Council. If chosen, she'll be joined with them in a bond deeper than blood. But The Lady made a magical wish that compels Tarisai to kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Book 1 of 2. | Ability differences BIPOC Neurodiversity | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie | The soldier known as Breq was once a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers. Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance. Book 1 of 3. | Ability differences BIPOC Neurodiversity | Amazon Bookshop |
 | The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin | At the end of the world, a woman must hide her secret power and find her kidnapped daughter in this intricate and extraordinary Hugo Award winning novel of power, oppression, and revolution. Book 1 of 3. | Ability differences BIPOC Neurodiversity | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo | Orphaned and expendable, Alina Starkov is a soldier. When her regiment is attacked, Alina unleashes dormant magic not even she knew she possessed. Alina enters a lavish world of royalty and intrigue as she trains with the Grisha, her country's magical military elite--and falls under the spell of their notorious leader, the Darkling--trying to master her untamed gift. Book 1 of 3. | Ability differences Neurodiversity | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo | Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone. Book 1 of 2. | Ability differences Neurodiversity | Amazon Bookshop |
| Underdogs by Chris Bonnello | One million cloned soldiers. A nation imprisoned. Only a group of neurodivergent rebels, most of whom are teenagers, are fighting back. After a lifetime of being defined by their weaknesses, the teens must learn how to play to their strengths, and become the best they can be in a world that has never been on their side. | Autism PDA ADHD Down Syndrome Selective Mutism Neurodiversity (Violence) | Amazon |
| Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card | To defend against a hostile alien race, governments train child geniuses as soldiers. Ender's skills make him a leader in school, yet he suffers from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and fear of the alien invaders. Can he be the general Earth needs? | Giftedness | Amazon Bookshop |
| The Giver by Lois Lowry | In a world where sameness is idealized and differences minimized, a boy is singled out for a unique role in his community. | Sensory Diversity Neurodiversity | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki | Shizuka Satomi, violin teacher, made a deal with the devil. When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. But then Shizuka meets Lan Tran, interstellar refugee, whose eyes like stars might just redefine a soul's worth. | LGBTQ+ Neurodiversity (Transphobia, Abuse) | Amazon Bookshop |
| The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan | Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school . . . and mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. | ADHD | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Granted by John David Anderson | In a magical land called the Haven lives a young fairy named Ophelia Delphinium Fidgets. She is a Granter: one of the select fairies whose job it is to venture out into the world and grant the wishes of humans. Today, Ophelia is going to get her very first wish-granting assignment. But figuring out how to truly give someone what they want takes much more than a handful of fairy dust. | Neurodiversity Ability differences | Amazon Bookshop |
 | Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett | The wizards of Unseen University must win a football match, without using magic. The Big Match draws in a street urchin, a maker of jolly good pies, a dim but beautiful young woman, and the mysterious Mr Nutt (no one knows anything much about Mr Nutt, not even Mr Nutt, which worries him, too). As the match approaches, the four lives are entangled and changed forever. | Racial diversity Neurodiversity | Amazon Bookshop |
| Wildoak by C.C. Harrington | Wildoak shimmers with beauty, compassion, and unforgettable storytelling as it explores the delicate interconnectedness of the human, animal, and natural worlds. | Neurodiversity | Amazon Bookshop |
| Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman | Iselia “Seelie” Graygrove looks just like her twin, Isolde…but as an autistic changeling left in the human world by the fae as an infant, she has always known she is different. Seelie’s unpredictable magic makes it hard for her to fit in—and draws her and Isolde into the hunt for a fabled treasure. | Neurodiversity | Amazon Bookshop |
