The Autistic pride day falls on June 18th, Neurodiversity pride day on 16th June, but let's celebrate the entire month learning more about Autism and Neurodiversity from the Real Experts. Every week in this month, I will review an immensely appreciated book written by Autistics. Let's kickstart the journey with this book. Connecting With The Autism Spectrum - How to talk, how to listen and why you shouldn't call it High-Functioning book is written by Casey 'Remrov' Vormer, an artist and well-known Autistic advocate.
This book has six chapters that cover the entire life stages - Understanding the Autism Spectrum; Neurodiversity, ableism and society; Communication breakdown; Autism at school; Autism at work & Autism in social relationships. My favourite aspect was how the author shares in the first chapter itself that labeling as high/low functioning is not accurate way and since Autism is a spectrum, the abilities and difficulties the individuals face are also varied and there is no viable way to predict how well anyone on the spectrum can fare in the different aspects of life.
I also liked reading about Ableism and how unknowingly even good-natured people can make grave mistakes when addressing the various challenges faced by Autistics. The next four chapters discuss in depth the various crucial challenges that are faced by Autistics in communication, at school, at work and social relationships. But the most important part is that the author goes to great lengths to explain why the challenges arise by listing them as common conflicts under each chapter. For instance in the fourth chapter, the author explains why it is difficult for the Autistic child to explain the thought process behind their answer, difficulty understanding the tone of voice, understanding abstract language, following complex instructions, etc. and several tips and suggestions to help them through these difficulties. This section is followed by the 'Strengths on the Spectrum' that talks about the various strengths of the Autistics like memory, curiosity, hard work, respect, etc. This gives a positive message that though they are facing several difficulties, there are ways to help and accommodate them and there are many positive aspects they bring to the table too that can help them shine. That is the best approach any parent/caregiver/therapist/teacher of an Autistic individual can imbibe!
I hope you found this review helpful. You can purchase this book on Amazon India
