Steve Silberman

Sarah Kurchak is autistic. She hasn’t let that get in the way of pursuing her dream to become a writer, or to find love, but she has let it get in the way of being in the same room with someone chewing food loudly, and of cleaning her bathroom sink. In I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder, Kurchak examines the Byzantine steps she took to become “an autistic success story,” how the process almost ruined her life and how she is now trying to recover.Growing up undiagnosed in small-town Ontario in the eighties and nineties, Kurchak realized early that she was somehow different from her peers. She discovered an effective strategy to fend off bullying: she consciously altered nearly everything about herself?from her personality to her body language. She forced herself to wear the denim jeans that felt like being enclosed in a sandpaper iron maiden. Every day, she dragged herself through the door with an elevated pulse and a churning stomach, nearly crumbling under the effort of the performance. By the time she was finally diagnosed with autism at twenty-seven, she struggled with depression and anxiety largely caused by the same strategy she had mastered precisely. She came to wonder, were all those years of intensely pretending to be someone else really worth it?Tackling everything from autism parenting culture to love, sex, alcohol, obsessions, and professional pillow fighting, Kurchak’s enlightening memoir challenges stereotypes and preconceptions about autism and considers what might really make the lives of autistic people healthier, happier, and more fulfilling.

“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.

An updated edition of Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide's popular dyslexia book with a wealth of new material and improved dyslexic-friendly font. What if we viewed dyslexia as a learning and processing style rather than as a learning disorder? Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide use their impressive backgrounds in neurology and education to debunk the standard deficit-based approach to dyslexia. People typically define “dyslexia” as a reading and spelling disorder. But through published research studies, clinical observations, and interviews with dyslexic individuals, the Eides prove that these challenges are not dyslexia’s main features but are instead trade-offs resulting from an entirely different pattern of brain organization and information processing that has powerful advantages. For example, dyslexic adults routinely outperform their non-dyslexic peers in studies on three-dimensional spatial reasoning and divergent creativity—one of the reasons why so many dyslexics are successful engineers. Approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population has dyslexia, and The Dyslexic Advantage shows how each one is predisposed to powerful skills called MIND strengths (Material, Interconnected, Narrative, and Dynamic Reasoning), leading them to possess incredible pattern detection, divergent thinking, episodic memory, problem solving, and prediction abilities. The revised and updated edition of The Dyslexic Advantage includes eighteen rich new profiles of remarkable individuals with dyslexia—such as several world-renowned scientists, a Pulitzer Prize–winning poet, a world-record-setting memory specialist, three MacArthur “Genius” Award winners, the technical advisor for the Jurassic Park movies, and many more. Meanwhile, the enormous advances in dyslexia research over the last ten years provide valuable new insights for educators, employers, parents, dyslexic adults, and anyone interested in neurodiversity and human cognition. Blending personal stories with hard science, The Dyslexic Advantage (Revised and Updated) provides empowering advice on how to identify, understand, nurture, and enjoy the strengths of the dyslexic mind.

Through 150 entries, Samantha Craft presents a life of humorous faux pas, profound insights, and the everyday adventures of an autistic female. In her vivid world, nothing is simple and everything appears pertinent. Even an average trip to the grocery store is a feat and cause for reflection. From being a dyslexic cheerleader with dyspraxia going the wrong direction, to bathroom stalking, to figuring out if she can wear that panty-free dress, Craft explores the profoundness of daily living through hilarious anecdotes and heart-warming childhood memories. Ten years in the making, Craft’s revealing memoir brings Asperger’s Syndrome into a spectrum of brilliant light—exposing the day-to-day interactions and complex inner workings of an autistic female from childhood to midlife.

Though our understanding of autism has greatly expanded, many autistic individuals are still missed or misdiagnosed. This highly accessible book clarifies many ways that autism can present, particularly in people who camouflage to hide their autistic traits. The authors take the reader step by step through the diagnostic criteria, incorporating the latest research as well as quotes from over 100 autistic contributors that bring that research to life. They also describe many aspects of autism that are not included in the current diagnostic criteria, such as autistic strengths and co-occurring disorders. Readers will learn about highly relevant topics, such as different types of empathy, sensory systems that are not well known, neuro-crash and burn out, and relative versus absolute thinking. This book provides a deep, current, and neurodiversity-affirmative understanding of the less obvious presentations of autism. It is relevant to all healthcare professionals, educators, family members, autistic individuals, and anyone who is curious about autism. A clinical companion guide, Is This Autism? A Companion Guide for Diagnosing, is available for clinicians who make mental health diagnoses.