Autism Psychology

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.

The groundbreaking book that explains Sensory Processing Difference (SPD)--and presents a drug-free approach that offers hope for parents--now revised and updated.

An unapologetic, deeply moving manual for parents of neurodivergent children from Heidi Mavir, a late-identified, neurodivergent adult and parent to an autistic/ADHD teenager. This updated edition includes information on Pathological Demand Avoidance, Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria, an interview with Heidi's son Theo and more. Follow Heidi's irreverent and brutally honest story of her fight to be seen, heard and supported, while swimming against a tide of parent blame, ableist stereotypes and the weight of other people’s opinions.

From ADHD and dyslexia to autism, the number of diagnosis categories listed by the American Psychiatric Association has tripled in the last fifty years. With so many affected, it is time to revisit our perceptions of people with disabilities. Psychologist and educator Thomas Armstrong illuminates a new understanding of neuropsychological disorders. He argues that if they are a part of the natural diversity of the human brain, they cannot simply be defined as illnesses. Armstrong explores the evolutionary advantages, special skills, and other positive dimensions of these conditions.

Foregrounding real experiences with autism and ADHD, this book explores the journey of discovering, accepting and flourishing with your neurodivergent brain. It explores why getting a diagnosis can be so fraught and gendered, and how to navigate a world which centres neurotypical brains. Featuring the latest research and thinking on neurodivergence, contributions from dozens of experts and the real stories of people just like you, this innovative book – which has been written and designed especially for *spicy* brains – is essential listening.

Would You Teach a Fish to Climb a Tree?: A Different Take on Kids with ADD, ADHD, OCD and Autism provides us with a refreshing and new perspective on these children who are so different from their peers. Co-authored by three practitioners who have had remarkable success working with them, this audiobook is filled with practical tools, stories, observations, and life-changing questions that can be used by anyone who has one of these kids in their life.

Leading medical innovator Kenneth Bock, MD, has helped change the lives of more than 1,000 children, and in this important book he offers help to children everywhere. This is the book that finally puts hope within reach. Doctors have generally overlooked the connections among the 4-A disorders, despite their concurrent rise and the presence of many medical clues.

In this exciting companion to Ellen Notbohm’s beloved classic Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew, the unique perspective of an autistic child’s voice returns to describe for teachers, in the classroom and in the larger community, how to understand thinking and processing patterns common in autism, how to shape an environment conducive to their learning style, and how to communicate with autistic learners of all ages in functional, meaningful ways.

According to the WHO, around 15 to 20 percent of the population is neurodivergent. In abnormal psychology, neurodiversity is characterized by an individual with variation in basic brain functioning and cognition, for instance, in social situations, learning, etc. This book uses dialectical behavior therapy, which deals with individuals with intense reactions to emotions. It helps you cope with difficult emotions and makes your life easier. This DBT manual will rejuvenate your life by making you happier and less prone to anxiety and will help you take charge of your neurodiversity!

After years of treating patients and analyzing scientific data, prominent Harvard researcher and clinician Dr. Martha Herbert offers a revolutionary new view of autism and a transformative strategy for dealing with it. In The Autism Revolution, she teaches you how to approach autism as a collection of problems that can be overcome - and talents that can be developed. Each success you achieve gives your child more room to become healthy and to thrive.

Jeni Decker is five-foot nothing and one hundred and [redacted] pounds - a self-described roly-poly, forty-something, Reubenesque bon-bon of a gal, often called cute but never sexy. She has two sons with autism on opposite ends of the spectrum (Jake and Jaxson), a husband who prefers hunting to household chores, an Australian Shepherd named Sugar, and an albino frog named Humbert Humbert. This is her story - a brash, personal, and sometimes shocking memoir.

Rose Cartwright reveals how the failure of the mental health system to cure her OCD led her to radical action. While she explored her trauma through a series of mind-bending psychedelic trips, Rose started to interrogate our dominant medical paradigm. What if people’s intense distress is not a symptom of illness, but a desperate expression of our need for love and connection? Rose set out on a quest to draw a new map of mental health, interviewing experts in psychiatry and neuroscience along the way: what she discovered will have implications for generations to come.

Adulthood is complicated for anyone, though it can be especially overwhelming for someone living with Asperger's. Thankfully, Asperger's and Adulthood presents targeted strategies from learning specialist Blythe Grossberg to help young adults with Asperger's kick-start careers, cultivate healthy relationships, and create independent paths as maturing adults. Grossberg lends her expertise by providing an Asperger's road map - pointing out potential obstacles and offering valuable how-tos for thriving in the world.

One of the world's 50 living autistic savants is the first and only to tell his compelling and inspiring life story and explain how his incredible mind works. Worldwide, there are fewer than 50 living savants, those autistic individuals who can perform miraculous mental calculations or artistic feats. (Think Dustin Hoffman's character in Rain Man.) None of them has been able to discuss his or her thought processes, much less write a book. Until now.

Science doesn't speak for itself. Neck-deep in work that can be messy and confounding and naïve in the ways of public communication, scientists are often unable to package their insights into the neat narratives that the public requires. Enter celebrities, advocates, lobbyists, and the funders behind them, who take advantage of scientists' reluctance to provide easy answers, flooding the media with misleading or incorrect claims about health risks. In Bad Advice, Paul A. Offit shares hard-earned wisdom on the dos and don'ts of battling misinformation.

"Rainbow Beginnings: Embracing Autism in Early Childhood" is a beacon of hope and understanding in the journey of autism. Authored with compassion and insight, this book unveils the intricacies of autism spectrum disorder in young children. It's an essential guide for parents, educators, and caregivers seeking to navigate the early years with empathy and knowledge.

There's no such thing as an inevitable midlife crisis, Barbara Bradley Hagerty writes in this provocative, hopeful book. It's a myth, an illusion. New scientific research explodes the fable that midlife is a time when things start to go downhill for everybody. In fact, midlife can be a great new adventure, when you can embrace fresh possibilities, purposes, and pleasures. In Life Reimagined, Hagerty explains that midlife is about renewal.

What causes autism? Is it a genetic disorder, or due to some unknown environmental hazard? Are we facing an autism epidemic? What are the main symptoms, and how does it relate to Asperger syndrome? Everyone has heard of autism, but the disorder itself is little understood. It has captured the public imagination through films and novels portraying individuals with baffling combinations of disability and extraordinary talent, and yet the reality is that it often places a heavy burden on sufferers and their families.

Growing up unknowingly autistic, Livia spent the majority of her young life seeking worth and validation in external achievements. She excelled in her honors classes, competitive sports, and eventually, an eating disorder. Until the control she so desperately sought nearly killed her, Livia made the hardest decision anyone with an eating disorder can make: to trust and surrender to the recovery process.

Autism is defined as neuro-developmental disorder that is characterized by repetitive and restricted behavior, verbal and non-verbal communication, and impaired social interaction. Based on data from 2010, the number of people with autism was estimated to be about 1-2 for every 1,000 people globally.