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To find out more about autism there are a range of books, films, TV programmes and podcasts you can view and read as recommended by autistic people.
To find out more about autism there are a range of books, films, TV programmes and podcasts you can view and read as recommended by autistic people.
The Different minds. One Scotland website is created and written in partnership with autistic people. The following books, films, TV programmes and podcasts have been selected and recommended to help broaden and deepen our understanding of autism.
Podcasts
I [Anne Borden King] launched this podcast as a place to talk about neurodiversity, children’s rights and disability rights. Guests are all working for human rights and inclusion in various capacities: as advocates, activists, scholars, medical professionals, entertainers and authors.
Books
By Maxfield Sparrow
Weaving memories, poems and first-person narratives together, these stories showcase experiences of coming out, college and university life, accessing healthcare, physical transition, friendships and relationships, sexuality, pregnancy, parenting, and late life self-discovery, to reveal a rich and varied tapestry of life lived on the spectrums.
Books
By Kaia Sønderby
As one of the only remaining autistics in the universe, Xandri Corelel has faced a lot of hardship, and she’s earned her place as the head of Xeno-Liaisons aboard the first contact ship Carpathia. But her skill at negotiating with alien species is about to be put to the ultimate test.
Books
By Finn Monahan
Using creative writing activities, this book helps teenagers to identify connections between events and their emotions – which can be difficult for people with autism – while improving their writing skills through fun activities.
Books
By Elle McNicoll
A neurodivergent girl campaigns for a memorial when she learns that her small Scottish town used to burn witches simply because they were different.
Podcasts
The Squarepeg podcast invites autistic women, and trans and nonbinary people, to explore navigating a neurotypical world and share their insights, challenges and successes.
Films
A young autistic woman runs away from her caregiver in an attempt to submit her 500-page manuscript to a ‘Star Trek’ writing competition at Paramount Pictures.
Although this has been recommended to help broaden awareness of autism, there is some content within that may cause distress to an autistic person.
TV Series
Created by Emma McCaffrey who is autistic, this documentary showcases a discussion with Emma’s mother Alison about autism, how it has affected their lives and what they have learned from the experience.
Books
By Brown/Ashkenazy/Giwa Onaiwu
Delve into poetry, essays, short fiction, photography, paintings, and drawings in the first-ever anthology entirely by autistic people of colour, featuring 61 writers and artists from seven countries.
Books
By Jurkevythz, Campbell, Morgan
This book looks at what it feels like to be an autistic parent, offering valuable insights, knowledge and wisdom on parenting autistic and non-autistic children. Three mothers reflect on their experiences of growing up as undiagnosed autistics, venturing into and embracing motherhood, and connecting with their children in a unique and powerful way.
Books
By Laurie Morgan
Written by an autistic parent, this book looks at the situation they faced when playing a game where nobody told them the rules. What would you do when faced with such circumstances?
Books
By Charlotte Amelia Poe
As we follow Charlotte’s journey through school and college, we become as awestruck by their extraordinary passion for life as by the enormous privations that they must undergo to live it.
TV Series
When the legitimacy of his college degree is challenged, lawyer Jeff Winger, must return to school where he finds himself leading a misfit coalition of fellow community college students.
Books
By Keiko Tobe
In the alternately heartwarming and bittersweet tale, a young mother tries to cope with both the overwhelming discovery of her child’s autism and the trials of raising him while keeping her family together.
Books
By Chris Bonnello
One million cloned soldiers. A nation imprisoned. A group of neurodiverse rebels fighting back.
Books
By Yenn Purkis
This essential survival guide gives autistic trans and/or non-binary adults all the tools and strategies they need to live as their very best self.
Books
By Julia Bascom
Julia Bascom’s depiction of the joy of autistic obsessions tells a story about autism that is very rarely told. It tells of a world beyond impairments and medical histories, where the multiples of seven can open a floodgate of untranslatable joy, where riding a train can make everything feel perfectly sized and full of light, and where flapping your hands just so amplifies everything you feel.
Books
By Sarah Gibbs
Drama Queen is both a tour inside one autistic brain and a declaration that a diagnosis on the spectrum, with the right support, accommodations and understanding, doesn’t have to be a barrier to life full of love, laughter and success.
Books
By Kaia Sønderby
Xandri Corelel has spent six months living among the Ongkoarrat after her unceremonious firing from the crew of the Carpathia, and though she misses her home, she has settled into her new life. Then Diver arrives with news that changes everything.
Books
By Melanie Yergeau
In Authoring Autism M. Remi Yergeau defines neurodivergence as an identity-neuroqueerness-rather than an impairment.
Books
By Corinne Duyvis
A thrilling, thought-provoking novel from one of young-adult literature’s boldest new talents. January 29, 2035. That’s the day the comet is scheduled to hit—the big one. Denise and her mother and sister, Iris, have been assigned to a temporary shelter outside their hometown of Amsterdam to wait out the blast, but Iris is nowhere to be found and at the rate Denise’s drug-addicted mother is going, they’ll never reach the shelter in time.
Books
By Adam Feinstein
This inspiring book addresses the lack of understanding of the wonderful contributions people across the autism spectrum can make to the workplace, drawing attention to this vast untapped human resource.
Books
By Libby Scott & Rebecca Wescott
With diary entries written by eleven-year-old Libby Scott, based on her own experiences of autism, this pioneering book, written in collaboration with esteemed author Rebecca Westcott, has been widely praised for its realistic portrayal of autism.
Books
By Gordon Gates
This book presents ground-breaking ideas based on current research on how stigma can cause bodily felt trauma in stigmatised or marginalised people, particularly those on the autism spectrum.
Books
By Michael McCreary
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).
Books
By Sandra Beale-Ellis
How do the sights, smells, and sounds of a city affect the senses of people with an Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC)?
Sandra Beale-Ellis explores the sensory benefits and challenges of cities for people with an ASC and invites readers to understand the different ways in which they can experience a city from a sensory perspective.
Films
When aspiring filmmaker David is mandated to attend a social programme, he is sure of one thing: he doesn’t belong there. But when he’s assigned to visit the Brooklyn Bridge with the vivacious Sarah, sparks fly and his convictions are tested.
Books
By Laura James
Laura draws on her professional and personal experiences and reflects on her life in the light of her diagnosis, which for her explains some of her differences; why, as a child, she felt happier spinning in circles than standing still and why she has always found it difficult to work in places with a lot of ambient noise.
Books
By Alex Ratcliffe
This collection of narratives from autistic adults is structured around their decades of experience of life, covering 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60 and 70s+.
Books
By Gillan Drew
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.
Books
By Laura Kate Dale
In this candid, first-of-its-kind memoir, Laura Kate Dale recounts what life is like growing up as a gay trans woman on the autism spectrum.
Books
By Melanie Heyworth & Celeste Josephine Art
Just Right for You offers a warm, optimistic way of introducing Autism to your child and embracing their differences.
Books
By Megan Rhiannon
A reflection and collection of everything that I have pieced together along the way (Megan Rhiannon, British illustrator).
A gathering of information about existing autistic designed to be read by those both on and off the spectrum.
Simplified breakdowns of traits and behaviours, collections of thoughts, facts, advice and feelings with accompanying illustrations throughout.
Books
By K. Bron Johnson
Are you struggling to understand your autistic child and their behaviour? Are you looking for ideas for how to best approach some common parenting issues? This guide hopes to help you decipher what is really going on inside your child’s mind and how to address their unique needs.
Podcasts
From home and family to humour and epic geekiness, this is a funny and enlightening podcast about thinking differently. With autistic hosts Robyn Steward, Jamie Knight and guests.
Films
Based on the bestselling book by Naoki Higashida, The Reason I Jump is an immersive cinematic exploration of neurodiversity through the experiences of non-speaking autistic people from around the world.
Books
By Morgan, Donahue
The relationship between autism and PTSD has historically been neglected in research and understanding but impacts the lives of many. Autistic people are intrinsically vulnerable to traumatic social situations and relationships, which can later manifest as PTSD.
Books
By Yenn Purkis
A Practical Handbook for Autistic Teens and Tweens – Full of insights about being awesome and autistic, this book celebrates the strengths of understanding the world in a different way.
Podcasts
Hosts Sam and endever share information and personal experiences around using their communication devices and other Augmentative and Assistive Communication (AAC) tools in their day to day lives.
Books
By Sarah Hendrix
In this book Sarah Hendrix has collected both academic research and personal stories about girls and women on the autism spectrum to present a picture of their feelings, thoughts and experiences at each stage of their lives.
Books
By Lizzie Huxley-Jones
An Anthology – his insightful and eye-opening collection of essays, fiction and visual art showcases the immense talents of some of the UK’s most exciting writers and artists – who just happen to be on the spectrum. Here they reclaim the power to speak for themselves and redefine what it means to be autistic.
Books
By Chris Bonnello
Three weeks have passed since the events of Underdogs. The British population continues its imprisonment in Nicholas Grant’s giant walled Citadels, under the watchful eye of innumerable cloned soldiers. The heroes of Oakenfold Special School remain their last chance of freedom.
TV Series
Modern dating is a world filled with white lies, false pretences and confusing games. It’s a world that Nina, an undiagnosed autistic woman, is about to shake up.
TV Series
Nanette – Australian comic Hannah Gadsby reshapes standard stand-up by pairing punchlines with personal revelations on gender, sexuality and childhood turmoil.
Douglas – Hannah Gadsby returns for her second special and digs deep into the complexities of popularity, identity and her most unusual dog park encounter.
TV Series
Australian twenty-something Nicholas is left to take care of his two American teenage half-sisters after the death of their father. Nicholas hasn’t been particularly present in his siblings’ lives, and now his sisters have to cope with not only a devastating loss but the reality that their neurotic, ill-equipped brother is all they have. But he tries! He tries so, so hard.
Books
By Naoki Higashida
The concept of this book The Reason I Jump: The inner voice of a thirteen-year-old autistic boy by Naoki Higashida is based on a fascinating idea. A 13-year-old boy with autism answers questions about his inner life that the outer world wants to know to understand autism better.
Books
By Yenn Purkis
With helpful explanations, tips and activities, plus examples of famous trans and gender divergent people on the autism spectrum, this user-friendly guide will help you to navigate the world as an awesome autistic trans teen.
Books
By Elle McNicoll
When Cora’s brother drags her along to his boss’s house, she doesn’t expect to strike up a friendship with Adrien, son of the intimidating CEO of Pomegranate Technologies. With Neurodivergent characters you’ll root for and a moving friendship at its heart, readers 9+ will love this powerful new novel from Elle McNicoll.
Books
By Dr Sarah Bargeila
The charming illustrations lead readers on a visual journey of how women on the spectrum experience everyday life, from metaphors and masking in social situations, to friendships and relationships and the role of special interests.
Books
By Dr Emma Goodall
Unravelling the complexities of relationships and sexuality, this straight-talking guide will help you to navigate the associated social, emotional and physical issues.