Autism is increasingly understood to be a life-long developmental condition associated with fundamental differences in brain connectivity. Autistic persons are at greater risk of experiencing a number of co-occurring mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, gender dysphoria, eating disorders and others. Co-occurring mental health conditions can go undetected in Autistic persons for several reasons. First, many Autistic people have challenges with functional communication that may make it difficult to work with mental health professionals who are not willing to be accommodating. Second, some professionals view all challenges experienced by their patients as being autism-related rather than due to a co-occuring condition. Finally, some conditions present differently in Autistic persons, making them more difficult to correctly identify.
This page currently provides links to a variety of books, articles, and blogs that I think are helpful for Autistic persons and their families to be familiar with.
Articles:
The Boy Whose Brain Could Unlock Autism
How autism may stem from problems with prediction
Free magazine from Parenting Autistic Children with Love and Acceptance
Spectrum | Autism Research News & Opinion
Blogs:
Non-Speaking Autistic Speaking
Radical Neurodivergence Speaking
We Always Liked Picasso Anyway
Autistic Led Organizations:
Pittsburgh Center for Autistic Advocacy
ASAN (Autistic Self Advocacy Network)
Other Organizations:
Books:
Aspergirls: Empowering Females With Asperger Syndrome
Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant
Loud Hands: Autistic People, Speaking
Nerdy, Shy, and Socially Inappropriate: A User Guide to an Asperger Life
Nobody Nowhere: The Remarkable Autobiography of an Autistic Girl
NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity
The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism
The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism & Asperger’s
Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism
Other Resources:
Accessing Home and Community-Based Services: A Guide for Self-Advocates
ASPIRE Healthcare Toolkit Personalized Accommodations Report
Stimtastic Chewable Jewelry, Stim Toys and Fidgets
*** Identity First Language (IFL) is preferred by the majority of the Autistic community as well as numerous other groups (e.g. National Federation of the Blind, World Federation of the Deaf ). Please see links below for additional information:
Identity-First Language | Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Person-First Language Doesn’t Always Put the Person First
Autistic Hoya: The Significance of Semantics: Person-First …
I am Disabled: On Identity-First Versus People-First Language