Five Books That Aided Our Special Needs Family
This article will portray five books that helped my family (who are considered neurodivergent) understand themselves better.
My family is considered neurodivergent. This means our family experiences and interacts with the world differently. People who are considered neurodivergent also learn and communicate differently. People with autism, ADHD, and dyslexia are considered to be neurodivergent. The neurodiversity movement started in the 1900’s, aiming to increase acceptance of all people while embracing neurological differences. Through online platforms, people with this developmental condition have been able to connect and share experiences. People who have gone undiagnosed the majority of their lives have struggled with everyday tasks and have felt different without knowing why. Fortunately, autism, ADHD, and dyslexia are better understood today. We also have more articles and books to read to help guide and understand ourselves better.
Poems of the Neurodivergent Experience by Jaclyn Pensiero
This is a beautiful book of poetry written by a late diagnosed twenty-four year old girl. Jaclyn writes about masking, avoidance of making phone calls, preferring to be invisible, why making decisions are challenging, and living in discomfort. The author helped my family realize our struggles and feelings are normal from an autistic person’s point of view, and maybe we shouldn’t strive so hard to be like atypical people. This book helped me realize I’m not meant to be like everyone else and I shouldn’t push myself to be what society considers to be normal.
living in a state of agitation
so much pent-up frustration
angered so very easily
I just want to live peacefully
Instead, all I do is sulk
as I try not to be the hulk
so sensitive to the noise
overwhelmed and annoyed
affected by the energies
of those not even enemies
always wishing to be alone
no triggers being shown
the world was not meant for us
can’t stop making such a fuss
Your Brain’s not Broken by Tamara Rosier PhD
My daughter, myself, and my husband have ADHD. This book gives strategies for navigating emotions and life for people with ADHD. Most people who struggle with ADHD symptoms look to be lazy, careless, and sometimes are thought of as stupid. We are easily distracted and have a difficult getting tasks done, regardless if were are capable of doing the task. For example, my daughter has always been a smart cookie. She was in the gifted and talented classes in elementary school and honors classes in middle school. Because of the lack of focus, forgetfulness, and being unorganized, she has forgotten to turn in assignments (which made her grades go down). She can verbally answer any question on the subjects she studies in school, but struggles to keep her grades up because she gets overwhelmed and bored easily. This book gives people steps to abide by to help people make better decisions in the heat of the moment.
“My brain keeps pinging!” Kristine said, explaining the chaos that ruled her days. “Ping! Oh, I gotta remember that. Ping! I need to do that now before I forget. Ping! Do this. Ping! Ping! Ping! All day. Like a berserk IPhone ringing in my head.”
Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity by Devon Price, PhD
Masking, which is extremely common in autistic people, is when people hide their autistic traits and pretend to be like the person they are currently around. For example, an autistic person may mimic a person’s body language or laugh to be seen as socially acceptable to fit in with their peers. They may also hide stims or special interests in fear of being judged. Rehearsing a script for a future conversation is also common in autistic people so they can appear to look normal. Masking is extremely draining because the person who is masking puts so much emotional and physical effort to resemble someone else. This book helps people to celebrate their special interests, cultivate autistic relationships, rediscover values, and accept your genuine self without worrying about other people’s opinions.
A life less trapped under the mask is possible for each of us. But building such a life is can be extremely daunting. When we think why we started masking in the first place, it tends to bring up a lot of old pain. Of of the coaches and disability advocates whose work has helped to inform this book, Heather R. Morgan, stressed to me that before we examine our masks and learn to take them off, we must first recognize that the version of ourselves we’ve been hiding from the world is somebody we can trust.
The Dyslexia Guide for Adults: Practical Tools to Improve Executive Functioning, Boost Literacy Skills, and Develop Your Unique Strengths by Marci Peterson
This book provides tips and strategies for people with dyslexia while helping individuals acknowledge their strengths. People with dyslexia process words and sound differently, but dyslexia does not affect a person’s IQ. Dyslexia is simply a language based learning difference that affects the brain’s ability to to connect letter sounds, making it difficult to read and spell. A person with dyslexia may read below the level expected despite having a normal intelligence. A person with dyslexia can also enjoy reading and writing, but the task can take them longer because they need to look up definitions more often and re-read lines.
There is not a straightforward solution to living with dyslexia. Still, there is power in embracing what dyslexia is in your life. Knowledge of dyslexia will empower you to build upon your uniqueness. However, we must first wrestle with some of the hard facts and emotional scars of dyslexia. Then we can reframe what we know by emphasizing the advantages dyslexia brings and learning to recognize that those gifts are a part of your unique story.
The Power of Neurodiversity: Unleashing the Advantages of Your Differently Wired Brain by Thomas Armstrong, PhD
This book provides an uplifting and unique twist to neurodivergent minds. With so many people affected with this disability, this book teaches us to revisit our perceptions of people with different brains. The author argues that if these type of people are a part of the natural diversity of the human brain, they cannot simply be defined as an illness. Armstrong explores the advantages, special skills, and other positive dimensions. This book made me feel good about my disability rather than seeing my differences as a disadvantage. I highly encourage any person with a neurological disability to read this book. You won’t be disappointed.
Instead of pretending that there is hidden away in a vault somewhere a perfectly “normal” brain to which all other brains must be compared, we need to admit that there is no standard brain, just as there is no standard flower or cultural group, and that, in fact, diversity among brains is just as wonderfully enriching as biodiversity and the diversity among culture and races.
Written by Brittany Benko
