Autistic-Centered Resources
This is an ongoing curation of Autistic-affirming resources,
exclusively featuring content from Autistic individuals.
Note: I do my best to only include content that affirms autism as a neurotype
and being Autistic as a cultural identity. However, some of these resources may
occasionally use language, such as 'ASD,' 'condition' and 'disorder'.
The Inside of Autism 6-week course
"Most Autism training is stereotypical, wrapped up in non-Autistic behavioural-based perspectives and incredibly deficit focused and ultimately useless. It doesn't have any meaning. The Inside of Autism strips back those stereotypes, provides insight from multiple Autistic perspectives, is grounded in up-to-date research; and shifts from a centred non-Autistic viewpoint to an Autistic one." - The Autistic Advocate
I highly recommend this course (I've taken it three times!).
Here’s Why Autistics Should Stim Out Loud
Celebrating Autistic Culture
The Top 10 Pillars of Autistic Culture
"Stimming is our cultural dance."
- Prue Stevenson
"Autism is not just a less common neurotype. It is also a CULTURE."
- The Autistic Culture Podcast
"We believe that celebrating Autistic Joy is our greatest act of resistance in a world that was not made for us, and some days feels like it seeks to destroy us for being who we were born to be. Join us in our mission to end stigma, expand acceptance, and advocate for
Autistic Justice."
NonSpeaking Culture + Identity
A Day With No Words is a colorful and engaging picture book for young readers shares what life can look like for families who use nonverbal communication, utilizing tools to embrace their unique method of "speaking."
(quote from publisher's website)
Masking + Unmasking
Shifting my Unmasking from Revealing to Unearthing
"I find that the word “unmasking” no longer fits me. I once told someone, “I’m not unmasking; I’m conducting a whole archeological dig.” I still use the term “unmasking” publicly because it has an essential and established shared context, and privately I imagine a process of “unearthing” instead."
BOOK: Unmasking Autism by Devon Price, PhD
On Being An Autistic Therapist
This book is a collection of stand-alone chapters put together by members of the international online collective Autistic Counsellors and Psychotherapists (ACP).
It's available for pre-order and shipping
to the US is about $10, I think.
I'm deeply honored to have contributed a chapter, along with several pieces of artwork, to this book.
In my chapter, I explore the concept of Autistic Flow and share how, as a therapist, being fully present with a client in session can often feel like a meditative experience for me—a reflection of the monotropic nature of my neurology.
Autistic Burnout
“A state of pervasive exhaustion, loss of function, increase in autistic traits, and withdrawal from life that results from continuously expending more resources than one has coping with activities and environments ill-suited to one’s abilities and needs. In other words, autistic burnout is the result of being asked to continuously do more than one is capable of without sufficient means for recovery."
Article on Autistic burnout by
The Autistic Advocate
Autistic Burnout Is More Than Burnout by The Autistic Science Person
How to Build an Autistic Burnout Recovery Plan by Neurodivergent Insights
Neuroqueer
BOOK: Neuroqueer Heresies by Dr. Nick Walker
Article by Dr. Nick Walker
"It’s been said that autistic people have meltdowns because they’re overwhelmed by the surroundings of their environments, but autistic people can melt down for many reasons, including pressure to mask who they are to fit in with society. In my case, most of my meltdowns stemmed from having to mask who I was.
Being autistic and LGBTQ go hand in hand many times. A lot of autistic people are also queer and/or trans, so we often get ostracized for being both."