One of my personal interests is autism; though I’m allistic myself, my husband is on the spectrum. Reading these books have helped me learn how his brain works, and several of them have sparked very educational conversations between us, and given us tools to work together better. I can’t count the number of times I’ve read a passage to him, followed by “Is that what it’s like for you?” and him responding “Wait, it’s not like that for everyone?!”

So this is a collection of links to books I’ve read, books I haven’t yet read but have been recommended to me, and websites I’ve found helpful. Neurodivergence also covers ADHD, so that is occasionally included as well. Books will be added as I become aware of them; I’ll link to Goodreads until I read and review them myself.

Authors are Neurodivergent unless otherwise noted.

Memoirs

The Journal of Best Practices – fantastic, funny memoir of a husband trying to not drive his wife crazy.

Look Me in the Eye – memoir of a man’s rather wild life.

Nerdy, Shy, and Socially Inappropriate – a woman’s memoir/handbook to autism. She also has a website at Musings of an Aspie. It hasn’t been updated in a few years, but it still has a LOT of excellent resources and writing.

Pretending to be Normal – another woman’s memoir.

Autism in Heels – The memoir of Jennifer O’Toole, who has written several books on autism.

Fiction

Queens of Geek – a lovely YA book about being on the spectrum with anxiety, trying new things anyway, and friendship.

The Kiss Quotient – a racy romance novel featuring a woman on the spectrum with an aversion to touch. I’ve also reviewed its sequel, The Bride Test, featuring an autistic man who was a side character in the first book.

Red Clocks – not technically a book about autism, but one of the characters is strongly implied to be autistic. I don’t think the author is neurodivergent.

The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie – standard Harlequin historical smut-with-plot with an autistic hero. Looking past the title and the one mention of Gypsies, it’s not too bad. Not a neurodivergent author.

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily – love story between a boy on the spectrum and a girl with ADHD.

Nonfiction

Loud Hands: Autistic People, Speaking – a collection of essays about autism by autistic authors – dry as hell. Maybe a good academic textbook, but not at all what I’m looking for. I couldn’t finish it.

Been There, Done That, Try This! – nonfiction featuring interviews with people on the spectrum about the issues they face and the solutions they’ve found. Written as kind of a self-help book – if you’re having problems with X, this is how other people on the spectrum have dealt with it. Can’t tell how useful it is to people on the spectrum since I’m not, but it looks like it should be. Editor is a psychologist specializing in autism, but most of the book is interviews with autistic people.

 

Also my Top Ten Books by Autistic Authors post has a few of these, plus some books I haven’t read yet.

 

Book I Haven’t Read But That Are On My Radar:

The Place Inside The Storm (Young Adult coming-of-age dystopia)