Sensory: Life on the Spectrum: An Autistic Comics Anthology (2022), ed. Bex Ollerton

A colorful and eclectic comics anthology exploring a wide range of autistic experiences—from diagnosis journeys to finding community—from autistic contributors.

From artist and curator Bex Ollerton comes an anthology featuring comics from thirty autistic creators about their experiences of living in a world that doesn’t always understand or accept them. Sensory: Life on the Spectrum contains illustrated explorations of everything from life pre-diagnosis to tips on how to explain autism to someone who isn't autistic, to suggestions for how to soothe yourself when you’re feeling overstimulated. With unique, vibrant comic-style illustrations and the emotional depth and vulnerability of memoir, this book depicts these varied experiences with the kind of insight that only those who have lived them can have.

Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN: 978-1524874766

I Am Autistic: A Workbook: Sensory Tools, Practical Advice, and Interactive Journaling for Understanding Life with Autism (By Someone Diagnosed with It) (2022), Chanelle Moriah

Navigate the world of autism with this friendly, full-color guide for those interested in learning more about autism spectrum disorder (ASD), getting an early diagnosis, and recognizing how being autistic can impact a person’s life.

In this first-ever creative guide, author and illustrator Chanelle Moriah offers an interactive tool for both diagnosed and undiagnosed autistics to explain or make sense of their experiences. It also offers non-autistic people the chance to learn more about autism from someone who is autistic.

Packed with full-color illustrations, sensory elements, and spaces for reflection, this book is designed to be personalized to the individual’s experience. I Am Autistic helps people feel less alone in their autism and brings knowledge to an often-misunderstood condition.

Paperback: 144 pages
ISBN: 978-1646044184

The Everything Parent’s Guide To Sensory Processing Disorder: The Information and Treatment Options You Need To Help Your Child With SPD (2014), Terri Mauro 

If your child has been diagnosed with sensory processing disorder (SPD), you understand how simple, everyday tasks can become a struggle. With The Everything Parent's Guide to Sensory Processing Disorder, you can help your child learn how to reduce stress and minimize the symptoms of SPD. In this all-in-one guide, Terri Mauro provides all the information you need regarding SPD, including:

• An in-depth definition of SPD and its effects
• The newest treatments, therapies, and diets
• Techniques for use outside of the therapist's office
• The latest research on physical causes of SPD
• Advice for coping at school, home, and play

Your child deserves to live a life free of the difficulties SPD can bring. The Everything Parent's Guide to Sensory Processing Disorder gives you professional advice to help your child to manage sensory needs and feel calmer, happier, and in control, now and in the future.

ISBN: 978-1440574566
Publisher: Everything

How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing (2022), by KC Davis, LPC

This revolutionary approach to cleaning and organizing helps free you from feeling ashamed or overwhelmed by a messy home.

If you’re struggling to stay on top of your to-do list, you probably have a good reason: anxiety, fatigue, depression, ADHD, or lack of support. For therapist KC Davis, the birth of her second child triggered a stress-mess cycle. The more behind she felt, the less motivated she was to start. She didn’t fold a single piece of laundry for seven months. One life-changing realization restored her sanity—and the functionality of her home: You don’t work for your home; your home works for you.

In other words, messiness is not a moral failing. A new sense of calm washed over her as she let go of the shame-based messaging that interpreted a pile of dirty laundry as “I can never keep up” and a chaotic kitchen as “I’m a bad mother.” Instead, she looked at unwashed clothes and thought, “I am alive,” and at stacks of dishes and thought, “I cooked my family dinner three nights in a row.”

Building on this foundation of self-compassion, KC devised the powerful practical approach that has exploded in popularity through her TikTok account, @domesticblisters. The secret is to simplify your to-do list and to find creative workarounds that accommodate your limited time and energy. In this book, you’ll learn exactly how to customize your cleaning strategy and rebuild your relationship with your home, including:

-How to see chores as kindnesses to your future self, not as a reflection of your worth
-How to start by setting priorities
-How to stagger tasks so you won’t procrastinate
-How to clean in quick bursts within your existing daily routine
-How to use creative shortcuts to transform a room from messy to functional

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.

Laziness Does Not Exist, by Devon Price (2022)

Extra-curricular activities. Honors classes. 60-hour work weeks. Side hustles.

Like many Americans, Dr. Devon Price believed that productivity was the best way to measure self-worth. Price was an overachiever from the start, graduating from both college and graduate school early, but that success came at a cost. After Price was diagnosed with a severe case of anemia and heart complications from overexertion, they were forced to examine the darker side of all this productivity.

Laziness Does Not Exist explores the psychological underpinnings of the “laziness lie,” including its origins from the Puritans and how it has continued to proliferate as digital work tools have blurred the boundaries between work and life. Using in-depth research, Price explains that people today do far more work than nearly any other humans in history yet most of us often still feel we are not doing enough.

Filled with practical and accessible advice for overcoming society’s pressure to do more, and featuring interviews with researchers, consultants, and experiences from real people drowning in too much work, Laziness Does Not Exist “is the book we all need right now” (Caroline Dooner, author of The F*ck It Diet).

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 978-1982140113

Autism in Heels: The Untold Story of a Female Life on the Spectrum, by Jennifer Cook O'Toole  (2021)

"Autism in Heels," an intimate memoir and Wall Street Journal bestseller, reveals the woman inside one of autism’s most prominent figures, Jennifer 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.

Jennifer exposes the constant struggle between carefully crafted persona and authentic existence, editing the autism script with wit, candor, passion, and power. Her journey is one of reverse-self-discovery not only as an Aspie but--more importantly--as a thoroughly modern woman.

Beyond being a memoir, Autism in Heels is a love letter to all women. It’s a conversation starter. A game changer. And a firsthand account of what it is to walk in Jennifer's shoes (especially those iconic red stilettos).

Whether it's bad perms or body image, sexuality or self-esteem, Jennifer's is as much a human journey as one on the spectrum. Because autism "looks a bit different in pink," most girls and women who fit the profile are not identified, facing years of avoidable anxiety, eating disorders, volatile relationships, self-harm, and stunted independence. Jennifer has been there, too. Autism in Heels takes that message to the mainstream.

From her own struggles and self-discovery, she has built an empire of empowerment, inspiring women the world over to realize they aren't mistakes. They are misunderstood miracles.

Paperback: 288 pages
ISBN: 978-1510758698

The Rules of Rain by Leah Scheier (2017)

Rain has taken care of Ethan all their lives. Before she even knew what autism meant, she was her twin brother’s connection to the world around him. Each day with Ethan is unvarying and predictable, until one night when her world is turned upside down by a mistake she can’t take back. As her new romance with her longtime crush and her carefully constructed life begin to unravel, Rain discovers that the fragile brother she’s always protected has grown into a young man who no longer needs her. And, for the first time, she discovers just how much she needs him.

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
ISBN: 9781492654261
Reading Age: 14-17

Doctor Dogs: How Our Best Friends Are Becoming Our Best Medicine by Maria Goodavage (2019)

New York Times bestselling author Maria Goodavage takes us on a thrilling, delightful, globe-trotting journey to discover the heartwarming and fascinating new world of doctor dogs.

In this groundbreaking book, Goodavage brings us behind the scenes of cutting-edge science at top research centers, and into the lives of people whose well-being depends on their devoted, highly skilled personal MDs (medical dogs). With her signature wit and passion, Goodavage explores how doctor dogs are becoming our happy allies in the fight against dozens of physical and mental conditions.

We meet dogs who detect cancer and Parkinson’s disease, and dogs who alert people to seizures and diabetic lows or highs and other life-threatening physical ailments. Goodavage reveals the revolutionary ways dogs are helping those with autism, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and post-traumatic stress disorder. And she introduces us to intrepid canines who are protecting us from antibiotic-resistant bugs, and to dogs who may one day help keep us safe from epidemic catastrophe. Their paycheck for their lifesaving work? Heartfelt praise and a tasty treat or favorite toy.

The emotional element in Doctor Dogs delivers as powerfully as the science. You don’t have to be a dog lover to care deeply about what these dogs are doing and what we are learning from them—although if you’re not a dog lover, you probably will be by the end of the book.

Publisher: Dutton
ISBN: 978-1524743048

We Could Be Heroes (2021), by Margaret Finnegan

“A coming-of-age story of friendships young, old, and canine.” —Kirkus Reviews
“[A] good-natured tale of two unlikely friends determined to save a life.” —Publishers Weekly

Shiloh meets Raymie Nightingale in this funny and heartwarming debut novel about a ten-year-old that finds himself in a whole mess of trouble when his new friend Maisie recruits him to save the dog next door.

Hank Hudson is in a bit of trouble. After an incident involving the boy’s bathroom and a terribly sad book his teacher is forcing them to read, Hank is left with a week’s suspension and a slightly charred hardcover—and, it turns out, the attention of new girl Maisie Huang.

Maisie has been on the lookout for a kid with the meatballs to help her with a very important mission: Saving her neighbor’s dog, Booler. Booler has seizures, and his owner, Mr. Jorgensen, keeps him tied to a tree all day and night because of them. It’s enough to make Hank even sadder than that book does—he has autism, and he knows what it’s like to be treated poorly because of something that makes you different.

But different is not less. And Hank is willing to get into even more trouble to prove it. Soon he and Maisie are lying, brown-nosing, baking, and cow milking all in the name of saving Booler—but not everything is as it seems. Booler might not be the only one who needs saving. And being a hero can look a lot like being a friend.

Age Range: 8-12 years
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 978-1534445260

Disability Visibility (Adapted for Young Adults): 17 First-Person Stories for Today (2021), ed. Alice Wong

Disabled young people will be proud to see themselves reflected in this hopeful, compelling, and insightful essay collection, adapted for young adults from the critically acclaimed adult book, Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century that "sheds light on the experience of life as an individual with disabilities, as told by none other than authors with these life experiences." --Chicago Tribune, "Best books published in summer 2020" (Vintage/Knopf Doubleday edition).

The seventeen eye-opening essays in Disability Visibility, all written by disabled people, offer keen insight into the complex and rich disability experience, examining life's ableism and inequality, its challenges and losses, and celebrating its wisdom, passion, and joy.
 
The accounts in this collection ask readers to think about disabled people not as individuals who need to be “fixed,” but as members of a community with its own history, culture, and movements. They offer diverse perspectives that speak to past, present, and future generations. It is essential reading for all.

Age Range: 12-17 years
Hardcover: 160 pages
ISBN: 978-0593381670

We're Not Broken: Changing the Autism Convesation (2021), Eric Garcia

“This book is a message from autistic people to their parents, friends, teachers, coworkers and doctors showing what life is like on the spectrum. It’s also my love letter to autistic people. For too long, we have been forced to navigate a world where all the road signs are written in another language.”

With a reporter’s eye and an insider’s perspective, Eric Garcia shows what it’s like to be autistic across America.

Garcia began writing about autism because he was frustrated by the media’s coverage of it; the myths that the disorder is caused by vaccines, the narrow portrayals of autistic people as white men working in Silicon Valley. His own life as an autistic person didn’t look anything like that. He is Latino, a graduate of the University of North Carolina, and works as a journalist covering politics in Washington D.C. Garcia realized he needed to put into writing what so many autistic people have been saying for years; autism is a part of their identity, they don’t need to be fixed. 

In We’re Not Broken, Garcia uses his own life as a springboard to discuss the social and policy gaps that exist in supporting those on the spectrum. From education to healthcare, he explores how autistic people wrestle with systems that were not built with them in mind. At the same time, he shares the experiences of all types of autistic people, from those with higher support needs, to autistic people of color, to those in the LGBTQ community. In doing so, Garcia gives his community a platform to articulate their own needs, rather than having others speak for them, which has been the standard for far too long. 

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 978-1328587848

Every Shiny Thing by Cordelia Jensen and Laurie Morrison (2019)

In this beautifully constructed middle-grade novel, told half in prose and half in verse, Lauren prides herself on being a good sister, and Sierra is used to taking care of her mom. When Lauren’s parents send her brother to a therapeutic boarding school for teens on the autism spectrum and Sierra moves to a foster home in Lauren’s wealthy neighborhood, both girls are lost until they find a deep bond with each other. But when Lauren recruits Sierra to help with a Robin Hood scheme to raise money for autistic kids who don’t have her family’s resources, Sierra has a lot to lose if the plan goes wrong.

Lauren must learn that having good intentions isn’t all that matters when you battle injustice, and Sierra needs to realize that sometimes the person you need to take care of is yourself.

ISBN: 978-1419733772
Publisher: Henry A. Abrams

Carly's Voice: Breaking Through Autism by Arthur Fleischmann and Carly Fleischmann (2012)

At the age of two, Carly Fleischmann was diagnosed with severe autism and an oral motor condition that prevented her from speaking. Doctors predicted that she would never intellectually develop beyond the abilities of a small child. Carly remained largely unreachable through the years. Then, at the age of ten, she had a breakthrough.

While working with her devoted therapists, Carly reached over to their laptop and typed HELP TEETH HURT, much to everyone's astonishment. Although Carly still struggles with all the symptoms of autism, she now has regular, witty, and profound conversations on the computer with her family and her many thousands of supporters online.

In Carly's Voice, her father, Arthur Fleischmann, blends Carly's own words with his story of getting to know his remarkable daughter. One of the first books to explore firsthand the challenges of living with autism, it brings readers inside a once-secret world and in the company of an inspiring young woman who has found her voice and her mission.

Publisher: Touchstone
ISBN: 9781439194157

Brave Love: Making Space for You to Be You (2019) by Lisa Leonard

Women today feel pressure to be the best wife, mom, and professional possible - often at the expense of their own identity. But what if you could experience deep peace - knowing you are loved right now, just as you are? In Brave Love, the founder of the multi-million dollar company Lisa Leonard Designs inspires women to find themselves again amidst the noise and competing demands of real life.

Brave Love is about what it means to be human, how it feels to be broken and afraid, and what happens when we dare to love deeply. Join Lisa on a journey where you will discover you are worthy and lovable just as you are. You don't have to try harder or be better. You don't have to prove yourself and you don't have to make others okay. In this freedom you will find more peace and more joy. Most importantly, you will learn that as you stop trying to be everything to everyone, you will love others better.

Lisa Leonard shares her story of finding truth and wholeness in the midst of life's competing demands. When she said her marriage vows, she was determined to be the best wife she could be. When her first son was born with a severe disability, Lisa promised herself she would always be the mother he needed. When she began her jewelry business, Lisa committed to giving it her all.

Over the years, the exhaustion of trying to be the perfect wife, mother, and businesswoman took its toll. Lisa knew it wasn't working. She wanted to change things, but how? Everyone depended on her. So she kept going, kept pushing, kept trying to prove she could do it all. Until one evening, in tears and desperation, Lisa realized that she could no longer be everything to everyone. Somewhere along the way, she had lost herself.

Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 9780310352303

Anything But Typical (2010), Nora Raleigh Baskin

Told from the first-person perspective of an autistic boy, Nora Raleigh Baskin’s novel is an enlightening story for anyone who has ever worried about fitting in.

Jason Blake is an autistic twelve-year-old living in a neurotypical world. Most days it's just a matter of time before something goes wrong. But Jason finds a glimmer of understanding when he comes across PhoenixBird, who posts stories to the same online site as he does.

Jason can be himself when he writes and he thinks that PhoneixBird-her name is Rebecca-could be his first real friend. But as desperate as Jason is to met her, he's terrified that if they do meet, Rebecca wil only see his autism and not who Jason really is.

By acclaimed writer Nora Raleigh Baskin, this is the breathtaking depiction of an autistic boy's struggles-and a story for anyone who has ever worried about fitting in.

Age Range: 10-12 years
Paperback: 224 pages

F*ck Anxiety: 101 Ways to Soothe Anxiety, Stop the Panic + Get Back to Your Badass Self, by Lauren Douglas (2022)

A beautifully illustrated, irreverent guide to breaking out of the anxious thought patterns that hold us back.

This little self-help book contains 101 anxiety spiral-stopping exercises, inspiring pep talks, and calm-the-F-down activities. With a no f*cks given tone, research-backed therapeutic techniques, and fun, fresh illustration, F*ck Anxiety will help you take control over your anxious thought patterns and make you laugh at the same time.

Divided into six chapters—the first two will help kick that anxiety spiral in it's scrawny ass, and the next four help build and flex anti-anxiety powers on the daily—F*ck Anxiety covers the following:

• Get Out of Your Head in Ten Minutes or Less
• Get Stubborn Against a Longer Spiral
• Do These Eight Things Every Day—You Deserve It!
• A Grab Bag of Ways to Be Amazing to You
• Truths + Tending for Shitty Situations
• Hush Up, It's Time for Your Daily Moment of Zen

In addition, the book also includes an explanation of how anxiety works, as well as recommendations for additional tools and practices. 

Paperback: 208 pages
ISBN: 978-1524870584

Play to Progress: Lead Your Child to Success Using the Power of Sensory Play (2022), by Allie Ticktin

A game-changing book on child development--and the importance of physical play--for this digital and screen age.

For children to develop to their fullest potential, their sensory system—which, in addition to the big five of sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell, includes movement and balance (vestibular), body awareness (proprioception), and internal perception (interoception)—needs to be stimulated from the time they are born. Their senses flourish when they explore their environment by touching new textures, including their food, running, jumping, climbing, and splashing outside.
 
As an occupational therapist with a specialty in sensory integration, Allie Ticktin has seen an increase in cases of children who struggle to sit in circle time or at their desk upright and who are delayed in walking, talking, and playing by themselves and with their peers. In the recent past, kids spent their days playing outside and naturally engaging their sensory system and building key developmental skills. But with increasing time pressures for both kids and parents, children are spending more time in front of screens and less time exploring and interacting with their environment.
 
The good news is that boosting your child’s sensory development doesn’t take enormous amounts of time or supplies, or any special skills. Here, Ticktin discusses the eight sensory systems and how a child uses them, and offers easy, fun activities—as well as advice on setting up a play area—that will encourage their development so that your little one will be better able to respond to their emotions, build friendships, communicate their needs, and thrive in school. That’s the power of sensory play.

Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: TarcherPerigree
ISBN: 978-0593191927

Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law (2020), by Haben Girma

"This autobiography by a millennial Helen Keller teems with grace and grit." -- O, The Oprah Magazine

"A profoundly important memoir." -- The Times


The incredible life story of Haben Girma, the first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, and her amazing journey from isolation to the world stage.


Haben grew up spending summers with her family in the enchanting Eritrean city of Asmara. There, she discovered courage as she faced off against a bull she couldn't see, and found in herself an abiding strength as she absorbed her parents' harrowing experiences during Eritrea's thirty-year war with Ethiopia. Their refugee story inspired her to embark on a quest for knowledge, traveling the world in search of the secret to belonging. She explored numerous fascinating places, including Mali, where she helped build a school under the scorching Saharan sun. Her many adventures over the years range from the hair-raising to the hilarious.

Haben defines disability as an opportunity for innovation. She learned non-visual techniques for everything from dancing salsa to handling an electric saw. She developed a text-to-braille communication system that created an exciting new way to connect with people. Haben pioneered her way through obstacles, graduated from Harvard Law, and now uses her talents to advocate for people with disabilities.

Haben takes readers through a thrilling game of blind hide-and-seek in Louisiana, a treacherous climb up an iceberg in Alaska, and a magical moment with President Obama at The White House. Warm, funny, thoughtful, and uplifting, this captivating memoir is a testament to one woman's determination to find the keys to connection.

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Twelve
ISBN: 978-1538728734