As a motivational speaker for the past six years now I’ve had the opportunity to read some amazing works by authors within our community. In one of my talks I give called “Read All About It: Autism in the Media” I talk about the fact that there are over 1,600 paperback books focused on the topic of autism on Amazon today!
With inclusion in mind, if you have a book you’d like to recommend please leave a comment below (I’m dying to read a new book right now actually so you’d be helping me out)! These are some of the books that have stood out to me that I hope you will consider reading for Autism Awareness Month!
Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism (Temple Grandin)
Getting a Life with Asperger’s: Lessons Learned on the Bumpy Road to Adulthood (Jesse A. Saperstein)
The Asperkid’s (Secret) Book of Social Rules: The Handbook of Not-so-obvious Social Guidelines for Tweens and Teens With Asperger Syndrome (Jennifer Cook O’Toole)
The Golden Hat: Talking Back to Autism (Kate Winslet, Margret Ericdottir and Keli Thorsteinsson)
- The book serves as a launching pad for celebrities coming together to support an autism related cause. Kate Winslet, one of the authors of this book is probably one of the most well known celebrities in the world who supports our autism cause. The book provides seriousness, humor and general insights on autism today. The book also serves as a catalyst for The Golden Hat Foundation which focuses on changing the negative perception that sometimes comes with autism. You can read more about their foundation from me here.
Ketchup is My Favorite Vegetable: A Family Grows Up with Autism (Liane Kupferberg Carter)
Mozart and the Whale: An Asperger’s Love Story (Jerry Newport)
A Regular Guy: Growing Up With Autism (Laura Shumaker)
- I fell in love with this book after only 2 chapters (you can read the first 3 chapters here to see what I’m talking about)! Laura’s insights as a mother of her son Matthew are both wonderfully put and most of all real. Much like The Thinking Persons Guide this book comes with no agenda however portraying what autism is through the eyes of someone who has years of experience on the subject. (Read my full review of the book on autism speaks official blog here)
Carly’s Voice: Breaking Through Autism (Carly and Arthur Flesichmann)
Living Independently on the Autism Spectrum (Lynne Soraya)
Atypical: Life with Asperger’s in 20 1/3 Chapters (Jesse Saperstein)
- I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Jesse once in the past for a few minutes and all I can say about him is he’s a very funny and personable individual. I think this shows in great context in his book. Jesse has taken this book as a lightning rod to start a very successful speaking career in terms of disability advocacy, anti-bullying campaigns among other topics!
Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes and Autism (Ron Suskind)
College for Students with Disabilities: We Do Belong (Stephen Shore, Pavan John Antony)
The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism (Naoki Higashida)
Look Me In The Eye: My Life with Asperger’s (John Elder Robison)
- The best book I’ve read on someone’s journey with autism. Some of the other books on this list are more informational however narratively speaking this book is the best you can read today on autism. John has been an autism advocate for the past 7 years now and serves on several boards relating to autism. Look Me In The Eye also is a New York Times Best Seller! You can read more great works from him via his blog here.
Defining Autism From The Heart: From Nonverbal to National Speaker (Kerry Magro)
- This was my debut book that came out in July of 2013. I wrote this book while I was in college when I first came out to my peers about having autism for the first time. In the book I share my story about growing up with autism through inspirational poems and essays.
Be Different (John Elder Robison)
- This is John’s second book he’s done which digs deeper into autism. Very much like the first this book comes with a great narrative and consistent humor.
Understanding Autism For Dummies (Stephen Shore, Linda G. Rastelli)
Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew (Ellen Notbohm)
- I wish I read this book sooner! This book is on the top of my list when recommending books to parents. Early Intervention remains such a vital key and this book helps make the parent understand the child’s perspective while they get older.
Big Daddy’s Tales From the Ligher Side of Raising a Kid with Autism (F. Lewis Stark)
Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships: Decoding Social Mysteries Through the Unique Perspectives of Autism (Temple Grandin and Sean Barron)
- You really can’t go wrong with any of Temple Grandin’s works but this book I found the most helpful in terms of the social aspects of autism. It also introduced me to the work of Sean Barron for the first time who has autism.
The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome (Tony Attwood)
Raising Autism: Surviving the Early Years (Kim McCafferty)
Love Anthony (Lisa Genova)
- Of the few fictional books on autism I’ve read this was probably my favorite. Ms. Genova takes a great deal of time to write a book that nails what autism is today. Even though not autistic herself, she brings a unique perspective into autism from the clear research she’s done in the development of the book.
Autism and Falling in Love: To the One That Got Away (Kerry Magro)
Healing Waters: Some Things Are Better Than Gold (Rob Wierick)
- Like Love Anthony, Healing Waters is a fictional piece with one of it’s supporting characters who is a young boy on the autism spectrum. I did a review of Rob’s book in January describing his work as a positive portrayal of the abilities we have in some of us. You can read more of the review here.
As an added bonus, a book I contributed called The Out-of-Sync Child Grows Up: Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder in the Adolescent and Young Adult Years by best-selling author Carol Kranowitz will be coming out on May 24, 2016. You can pre-order the book today here.
In the past few years we’ve written two best-selling books while contributing to two others. Have a book you are looking for some help on? Possibly someone to write the Forward too? We would love to help. Contact us for more details here.
Any other books you would include on this list? Keep the conversation going by telling us in the comments!
