Neurodivergent therapists

Association of Neurodivergent Therapists is a non-profit organisation created by neurodivergent therapists, advocating for neurodivergent rights and increasing visibility for neurodivergent therapists. The website includes a useful directory of ND therapists.

Autistic Mental Health is “dedicated to improving mental health support for the autistic community, with resources and training designed and delivered by autistic people, with research informed by autistic experiences and expertise.”

Based in Ireland, Thriving Autistic offer 1-1 and group support, community webinars and training/consultation for mental health practitioners and workplaces. “We’re a community of autistic, AD(H)D, dyslexic and otherwise neurodivergent practitioners in private practice. We’re psychologists, coaches and therapists from around the world, working online to support the community. We’re all independent professionals who have agreed to abide by our core values of neuro-affirmative, anti-racist, anti-ableist, LGBTQIA+ support.”

Home – Neurodivergent Practitioners Directory – a helpful directory hosted by Thriving Autistic.

Assessment and diagnostic services

Hendrickx Associates provides non-clinical autism assessments. More information and costs here: Autism Assessments — Hendrickx Associates (asperger-training.com)

Axia provides diagnosis services as well as post-diagnostic support.

Based in Ireland, The Adult Autism Practice provides “remote, collaborative, neurodiversity and LGBTQ+ affirmative adult autism assessments across Ireland and the UK. Strengths and differences celebrated in a kind and respectful online space.” More information here: Adult Autism Assessments

Books

Steve Silberman. NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently
An erudite and engrossing book giving an overview of autism in a broad social context.

Caroline Hearst (Ed.) Being Autistic – Nine adults share their journeys from discovery to acceptance.
Welcome book for people newly identified or diagnosed as autistic, produced and written by autistic people. The book contains the stories of very diverse autistic adults who share their responses to discovering and accepting their autism. It offers an insider view of the autism constellation to people becoming aware they inhabit it. This book is published by AutAngel. Visit the book’s web page for more information.

Kelly Mahler. Interoception: the Eighth Sensory System.
A very useful book describing the physiological basis of some autistic traits and giving practical suggestions for addressing challenges.

Luke Jackson. Freaks, Geeks and Aspergers Syndrome: A User Guide to Adolescence
Written when the author was thirteen, this is readable and informative, although with some over-generalisations.

Jean Kearns Miller (Ed.) Women from another planet?: Our lives in the universe of autism.
Highly recommended stereotype buster. Written by many different autistic women, this is a colourful weave of stories about what it means to live life on the spectrum as a woman.

Kamran Nazeer. Send in the idiots: stories from the other side of autism.
Nazeer started life as a “low functioning” autistic, and grew into a high status civil servant. He writes entertainingly about his visits to some of his classmates from the school for the autistic he attended. Some are highly successful, others less so; all are interesting to read about.

Dawn Prince-Hughes. Songs of the gorilla nation: My journey through autism.
A beautifully written book, the autobiography of a “misfit” who remarkably became an academic and an international authority on gorillas and also on autism despite her earlier difficult life.

Donna Williams. Nobody Nowhere and Somebody Somewhere.
In these autobiographies Donna writes of her struggles to integrate her sense of self with the “real world” and create a life worth living while coming to terms with her autism and its needs. Compelling reading.

Clare Sainsbury. Martian in the Playground.
Many first-person accounts of the experiences of children growing up on the autism spectrum.

Lucy Blackman. Lucy’s Story.
This is the autobiography of a non-speaking autist with an impressive academic record. She has a brilliant way of portraying life as she experiences it and how this affects non-autists.

Liane Holliday Willey. Pretending to be Normal: Living with Asperger’s Syndrome.
Liane writes of her childhood and growth into adulthood and her search for a sense of self: how she used coping strategies such as copying others to appear normal; the effects this had on her until she came to be diagnosed and created for herself a stronger concept of who she was and what she wanted to be. This is a great book to be read along with her other book “AS in the family”.

Dinah Murray (Ed). Coming out Asperger: Diagnosis, disclosure & self-confidence.
Subtitled “Diagnosis, Disclosure and Self-Confidence” this book is a useful mixture of pieces by people on the spectrum, parents and professionals edited by a professional who herself came out as autistic later in life.

J. Elder Robison. Look me in the eye: My life with Aspergers.
An excellent and well written account of a young man growing up knowing he was different but not knowing why.

Janine Booth. Autism and Equality in the Workplace A useful guide for anyone who has an interest in changing working culture to ensure equality for autistic people. An essential resource for employers, managers, trade unionists, autistic people, their workmates and supporters.

Self-help books

Valerie Gaus.  Living Well on the Spectrum. This is a detailed strengths-based approach to the challenges of autistic life that many will find invaluable.

Emma Sargent & Tim Fearon  How You Can Talk to Anyone in Every Situation. Not specifically written for autistic people but more useful than many social skills workbooks.

Other Resources

Autistic-led organisations

AMASE (Autistic Mutual Aid Society Edinburgh) is an Autistic People’s Organisation based in Edinburgh. All full members are on the autistic spectrum, and their goal is to help autistic people make each other’s lives better through peer support, advocacy and education.

ARGH (Autism Rights Group Highland) is an inspiring advocacy group run by and for autistic adults in the Scottish highlands.

Aupeer offers accessible non-clinical peer support for autistic adults on the journey from self-identification through the assessment period and beyond – both free online autistic led peer support groups and 1-1 sessions for autistic adults. 

Autistic Parents UK is a user-led non-profit organisation founded by a group of Autistic parents who all experienced a gap in support and understanding for Autistic people during parenthood. Still a new organisation, but an important resource.

Autscape organises an annual conference/retreat run by and for autistic adults. In 2023, the conference will be held in person The Hayes conference centre in Derbyshire, between Monday 31 July and Thursday 3 August.

Based in Ireland, Thriving Autistic offer 1-1 and group support, community webinars and training/consultation for mental health practitioners and workplaces. “We’re a community of autistic, AD(H)D, dyslexic and otherwise neurodivergent practitioners in private practice. We’re psychologists, coaches and therapists from around the world, working online to support the community. We’re all independent professionals who have agreed to abide by our core values of neuro-affirmative, anti-racist, anti-ableist, LGBTQIA+ support.”

Websites/blogs

Ann’s Autism Blog Ann Memmott is an autistic adviser on autism. Ann is well known on Twitter for critiquing research into autism, and directing people to the best of modern research on the topic.

Neuroclastic is a “collective of Autistic people responsive to the evolving needs and trajectory of the Autistic community.

By publishing autistic voices, we are cataloguing the intersectional experiences, insights, knowledge, talents, and creative pursuits of Autistics. We follow a unique model of interdependence, leveraging the passions, skills, and specializations of contributors to create a living repository of information cataloging the autistic experience.

We aim for a future that is more accepting, accommodating, and empowering for autistic people.”

Autism and Health provides Primary Care resources for autistic adults and their Primary Care providers.

Autistic Doctors International Resources and information for autistic doctors.

The Autistic Advocate Kieran Rose has excellent information and training on autistic masking, and much more besides, including his training The Inside of Autism.

Jodie Smitten is an independent specialist working with autistic children, their families and their schools. Her website features training, workshops and CPD, and she is co-author (with her young autistic daughter) of The Secret Life of Rose: Inside in an autistic head.

A mosaic of Autistic lenses | Autistic Collaboration (autcollab.org) Aut Collab (the Autistic Collaboration Trust) is a community that welcomes all individuals and groups who fully appreciate the value of neurodiversity. Aut Collab acts as a global hub for mutual support, and encourages neurodivergent individuals and ventures to connect and establish long-term collaborations.

Employment support

Autism Forward provides grants for specialist mentoring for autistic adults to give them the support and advice they need to make the transition from education to work and find paid or voluntary employment. They also provide resources for employers, colleagues, friends and families of autistic adults to encourage them to listen, talk and accept their different way of seeing the world, so that autistic people are included and valued in communities and workplaces.

Career Hive offers relevant and accessible careers support to disabled people looking for new or better work, delivered by careers professionals with lived experience of disability. The service is free of charge.

Enna is a specialist recruitment agency focusing on supporting talented neurodivergent individuals to find meaningful employment, and working with inclusive employers to help them attract, recruit, and integrate neurodivergent individuals.

To register: www.enna.org/Register or contact Enna at hello@enna.org with any questions.

Videos and podcasts

1800 Seconds on Autism From home and family to humour and epic geekiness, this is a funny and enlightening podcast about thinking differently. With autistic hosts Robyn Steward, Jamie Knight and guests.

St. Clement’s Practical Autism is a set of twelve short video guides written, produced and narrated by Yo Dunn on practical autism topics such as diagnosis and identity (that video includes our book ‘Being Autistic’ as a recommended resource), communication both pre-verbal and verbal, coping with change, gender identity, social skills, etc.

Videos featuring Caroline Hearst, AutAngel founder and director

Caroline Hearst interviewed by Network Autism about autistic women: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=797276620308909

Caroline Hearst and Dr Laura Crane on participatory research

Ticket Theory by Hilary Knutson is a really useful alternative to/variant of the popular spoon theory.

My Story

My story is a lovely presentation made for 7 year olds (and heart-warming for any age) of how Anne Moxom experienced growing up autistic.  Anne has generously allowed Caroline to share this – please thank her (email address at end of presentation) if you find it useful; it will mean a lot to her.

Courses

University of Kent Understanding Autism course.

Nikki, an AutAngel director, says: “The future learn understanding autism course gives a good grounding in the current understanding of autism and is presented by autistic presenters. The course is appropriate for anyone wanting to learn more and being able to message other learners through the platform adds to the learning experience.”

Posters

NAS posters about autism for staff in GP’s surgeries, useful basic information to offer any health provider.

Apps

Apps which are not specifically designed for autistic people, but which may be useful.

Habit tracking apps

Loop Habit Tracker (Android)

HabitShare (Android and iOS)

HabitBull (Android and iOS)

Bar code alarm clock apps

Bar Code Alarm Clock (iOS)

Sleep as Android (Android)

Constellation Model

The autism constellation model was designed by AutAngel’s founder Caroline Hearst and made by an autistic woodworker to demonstrate to participants in her autism awareness courses why autism is best described as a constellation.

Autistics are often classified along a spectrum with abilities on a linear scale. This neat continuum, however, does not match the more complex reality. Some autistics will find some tasks very easy some days and impossible to do at other times; individual profiles tend to be spiky and changeable. The constellation model offers a more comprehensive representation. The autism constellation model is a wooden model representing the human constellation (the autistic people are represented by the balls at all the different extremes of the model) and shows the diversity of autistics and their spiky profiles.

Constellation model

The springs and the balls can be rearranged. ​The picture below shows what can happen to autistic people when support or a suitable environment is removed:

Material: wood and metal for the model
Dimensions: 215mm (w) x 170mm (d) x 190mm (h)

The constellation model is not currently available for sale. If we find ways to make it available again, we’ll update this page.