As an autistic person, I know from personal experience, like a critical legitimate representation of autism. It was a book that for the first time opened for me that I can be autistic – although looking back, I realize that the book may have a problematic and simplified representation of what it means to be autistic. But I was so hungry for the representation, and because the autistic representation was even less common than now, I took what I could get.
For this reason, when I see myself in books with autistic heroes, I can’t resist support! I know that there are a lot of great books with an autistic representation and there are many more that can be taken into account, but here are some of my favorites. I hope you like it.
Books with pictures and chapters
Hand flap: Stading Festival Steve Asbell
I love how this book normalizes and celebrates a herd! The ending is particularly full of hope, reminding that no feelings or sensory impressions have to overpower us, especially when we can and stimulate ourselves!
Bitsy Bat, School Star by Kaz Windness
BITSA BAT uses a fantastic metaphor of the “inverted” bat in the world of mammals. At school, everything he does is perceived as “bad” because it differs from the world of her colleagues from the first class of instructor. But Bitsa learns to find joy in his differences and takes the initiative to celebrate the strengths not only of themselves, but also his classmates. This book with pictures is a great way to introduce adolescent and ancient readers in difficulties with a neurodiver in a neurotypical world, as well as a way of welcoming people of neurodivergent and creating the space of Neurodivergent-Inclusive.
Infinity Rainbow Club series only Malia
Too many! Overwhelming Jolene Gutiérrez and Angel Chang
This picture book is a great way to introduce readers of all ages to the idea of sensory sensitivity and excessive stimulation, as well as a way of helping people who have sensory needs. I particularly liked the instructive backmatter with specific suggestions on how to deal with excessive stimulation and sensory needs. I regret that I didn’t have this book when I was younger to better understand where mine Autistic burnout And exhaustion comes from.
Medium
Fire, Water and Maudie McGinn Sally J. Pla
Fire, water and Maudie McGinn are particularly convincing in how it presents the intersection of abuse and neurodiwes. Maudie’s abuse makes her particularly susceptible to doubt herself and her places in the world. He considers himself as a “girl with faults” and must learn not to form for others, but they find confidence and joy of their own unique wiring. This book also performs a great job, presenting the nuance presentation of the consequences and trauma of ABA therapy and culture, we have autism, which we definitely need more in the media.
Lonely below By g. Haron Davis
Oh, Eva is so relative – with masking, the aversion of food, learning how to talk to various people, how to adapt her talking about others. I loved to see the intersection of autistic and black experience and how it influenced our hero. Note that the book has a petite romantic interest. In general, a humorous, ghostly story of a depth, intersecting with the horrors of real history.
Show us who you are Elle McNicoll
Show us who you are a speculative novel, asks readers: How can we operate technology for replication of loved ones before the transition, so in a sense no one ever has to die? How would we like to remember them? How do we process and avoid regret through technology? And how can technology with capable concentration cause neurodiwesia? The novel gives a speculative background, but focuses on legitimate interactions and lovely relations between the autistic heroine and her friend ADHD Adrien. The way Cora and Adrien express the pressure that neurotypical society imposes on people neurodiver is so resonant and refined. He also does a great job, showing similarities and differences between autism and ADHD, in a convincing way.
Maya plays part Author: Caryssa ERB
Maya, like everyone else, is sloppy. She can be too confident, inelastic and unfair to his friends. But she is also passionate, demanding -working and fights for coping in a world that is not built for her. For some readers, Maya may seem annoying and selfish – but this is an excessive simplification. As an autistic person, I absolutely see myself in the black and white thinking of Maya, wounded over what does not go according to plan, and her struggle to “play a role” as Maya publicly and public mask. “Maya in Public” and other stage metaphors show how an autistic person uses his special interests to understand the world, and can aid readers allistic better understand what it is autistic. I loved to see how Maya is growing and tried novel things, even if it was uncomfortable, as well as apologize for her mistakes and learn from them. Maya is a very sincere reflection of how we all have strengths and ugly sides, but also is a fantastic model, how we can develop and become our best. This is such a valuable story about learning flexibility and seeing that there are many great roles that we can play – even if it was not expected. Hotly recommended reading, for both autistic and allory readers.
Teenage adult
All the noise at once Author: Deandra Davis
All noise at the same time solves so many problems with such care and thought. Some of these topics include racism, classism and segregation of classes, stress related to perfection and being a “model citizen”, family expectations, talented and neurodiver treatment in a neurotypical world, police brutality and imbalances, but the book never seems disgusting or didactic. All these topics are so organically woven into the narrative that they only invite the reader to get involved and think about systems in the world in which we live. There is incredible care and nuance in this story. All noise at the same time is realistic in tough, but also hope. Aiden and Brandon as well as their friends and family are going through so many tough things, but at the end of the tunnel there is also delicate. There is also joy and humor and a promising future. Especially in these times, the dose of realistic hope is more critical than ever.
Sensors: Life at the spectrum Anthology
This graphic novel is a great source of information for autistic people, as well as allistic people who want to better understand autism and support autistic people. The nature of anthology also means that there are various prospects for what it means being autistic, which is so critical for the representation, because every experience is different.
More Jackie Khalilieh
I love to see more adolescent novels of YA – especially romances – published on early experience in high school. There are so many lines with whom I loved and did not see so much, and I have not seen previously represented by autistic experience in other books. I don’t read much affair, but I really felt involved in a love triangle here and resonated with the challenges of the main Jessie, navigating and communicating in these relationships. (Note that there is a bit of curses in this.)