Resources for autistic people & their caregivers

By Children’s Librarian Shelley Harris

So you, your child, or your student has been diagnosed with autism? Congratulations! As overwhelming as it can be to hear a diagnosis, you are now ready to find and receive the supports you need to live the life you want for yourself.

There has been an increasing amount of misinformation about autism in the news, in addition to the negative and scary stories about autism in books, movies, and more. Autism, however, is not inherently negative or scary! There are a wide variety of experiences, and you have joined a rich, vibrant community that is full of as much joy as challenge.

What is autism?

The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) defines autism as a developmental disability that affects how we experience the world around us. You can have different aspects, like dyspraxia or a communication disorder, without being autistic.

To many, it seems like there are more autistic people now than ever before, but that’s not the case. What’s happening is that more autistic people are being diagnosed than ever before: there are far fewer people being missed. Scientific America wrote an article explaining the increasing diagnosis rate and why that’s a good thing. In fact, as Andi Putt’s charts show, recent research showed that the increased prevalence of autism diagnoses was highest in adults 26-34.

Rebecca Burgess at Geek Club Books wrote a comic illustrating what the autism spectrum really looks like and why every autistic person can experience things differently (available in English, Spanish, French, German, and Indonesian).

The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism prides itself on being a one-stop source for carefully curated, evidence-based, neurodiversity-steeped information from autistic people, parents, and autism professionals. Co-founder Shannon Des Roches Rosa shares the advice she wishes she’d been given when her son was diagnosed and is grateful autistic people helped her understand autistic joy and the best kind of supports.

Want to learn more? Check out some of these resources below!

Learn about autism from autistic adults

Even if they don’t seem anything like your own experiences, you often will have a lot more in common than you think. Because media and the news often share only one, narrow way to be autistic, it’s hard to understand all of the different ways autism can look. Look for organizations that have autistic people in leadership roles.

Here are some excellent people to learn from: 

• Em Hammond is a speech therapist and illustrator who is autistic and ADHD, plus has autistic children. She creates resources to explain and support autistic needs, which you can find on her Facebook page (NeuroWild) and her TeachersPayTeachers store (Emily Hammond -NeuroWild). One important example is how to write a helpful and supportive social narrative. 
• Morgan Foley is an autistic woman who shares her experiences and creates video resources about autistic experiences, perspectives, and misunderstandings. 
• Lei Wiley-Mydske is an autistic woman, daughter of an autistic man, and mother to autistic children. She created the Ed Wiley Autism Acceptance Library in honor of her father and created the Neurodivergent Narwhals series, with guides for parents and therapists to honor their child and their diagnosis. We love to display her Narwhals all year long!
• While stereotypes say that mostly boys have autism, that isn’t the case. Because girls may not present in the stereotypical way, they are diagnosed less often. The Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network (AWNN) has great resources, including a welcome packet for girls and for parents.
• Jordyn Zimmerman is a non-speaking autistic woman who uses an augmentative communication app to communicate. For most of her education, teachers thought that because she couldn’t speak, she couldn’t think, and she responded by running and lashing out. It wasn’t until she was 18 that she found educators who saw her and taught her. A documentary about her story, This Is Not About Me, is available to rent on Kinema, and you can watch her present on her story and recommendations to help more autistic students succeed in school and life. She also helps write the curriculum for The Nora Project, a K-12 disability education program in which some D97 schools participate.

Online resources to explore

• Dr. Kojo Sarfa, DNP, creates wonderful and often funny videos that explain and demonstrate autism in action, as well as ADHD and AuDHD (the dual diagnosis of autism and ADHD). 
• NPR recently posted an article interviewing autistic social psychologist and author Devon Price and sharing his tips for autistic people to stop masking. Masking is when autistic people try to hide their autistic traits, and is something autistic girls often excel at. This generally causes a great deal of stress and long-term harm. Dr. Price also talks about how girls and children of color are much less likely to be properly diagnosed.
• Learn from Autistics has a guide for talking to your child about their autism diagnosis. Their site is full of guides and links to additional resources, such as the Autism Self-Advocacy Network.
• Michelle Swan has guides specifically for educators who have autistic students.

What your library offers

• We have a social narrative for visiting the Main Library Children’s Services available on our website (PDF) and at the Children’s Services desk.
• Visiting us or another library for the first time? We have tips for helping your first visit be successful.
• All three library buildings have support bins with items like noise-canceling headphones, wiggle seats, fidget toys, DIY schedules, pinwheels, sunglasses, and weighted lap pads.
• Supported programs at the library have visual schedules, fidgets, and other supports for children built into the class.
• We have been making short videos for children and caregivers since 2020, and some of them are specifically supported videos that include language modeling, sign language, schedules, and other visuals.
• Disability Reads is a list of kids books for kids with and without disabilities, with an emphasis on disabled creators. This list is updated every July for Disability Pride Month, so keep an eye out for new titles soon!