Approaching autism through reading

It's always a good time to recommend a book, but coinciding with the Sant Jordi festival, so emblematic in Catalonia, we're sharing some reading recommendations. Essays, biographies, fiction novels, and graphic novels—a wide range of genres for all tastes, but with one thing in common: they are all works written by autistic people or families of autistic people who know the day-to-day realities of this disorder. We're taking advantage of this special day to raise awareness about people with autism spectrum disorder through their experiences and perspectives.

Books

• Neurodivine, period. I've been autistic for 40 years and I didn't even know it.

Author: Sara Codina / Publisher: Lunwerg Editores

After decades of searching for answers to whys that weighed too heavily, at 41 years old, Sara Codina received a diagnosis of autism and finally the pieces of that puzzle that seemed impossible to solve began to fit together: that day she was able to put a name to what was happening to her, that day she discovered that she was not broken or defective.

• Autistic women from within the spectrum

Authors: Carmen Molina Villalba, Regina Cortés Echezortu, Montse Navarro Ríos, María Ruiz-Peña Sánchez-Ibarguen, Raquel Montllor Linares, Inés López López, María Xosé Porteiro / Publisher: CEPAMA

Autistic women are finding their voice to speak about their autistic condition and the issues that affect them: difficulty in diagnosis and invisibility, school and bullying, relationships and family life, motherhood, work, independent living, and quality of life. For the first time, the autistic women's community is speaking in the first person, asserting their rights to be considered individuals and citizens with full rights.

• M (for Autism)

Author: Vicky Martín / Publisher: CEPE editions

What is life like when you're a teenager with autism? The incredible story of M was written by girls with autism who desperately want people to understand them. They created M with the help of their creative writing teacher, Vicky Martin. The illustrations accompanying the text were created by visual artist Luna Pérez Visairas.

• Discovering Asperger's

Author: Ramon Cererols / Publisher: Psylicom

In the book you will find a complete, rigorous and structured description of current knowledge about Asperger's, with more than 200 footnotes referencing academic and research articles, interspersed with the narration of the author's personal experience, as an example of one of the many ways of living with Asperger's.

• Your gaze speaks (CAT)

Author: M. Queralt Palau Castro / Publisher: Quorum Llibres

It's a short, quick read in which Queralt, the mother of a 6-year-old daughter with autism, explains what it's like to have a child with autism from a very personal and intimate perspective. She covers everything from the diagnosis and how it affected the family unit to how she lives her daily life with her daughter.

• Invisible Worlds: The Autism Spectrum Explained by a Neuroscientist Mother

Author: Maria J. Portella / Publisher: Tibidabo Ediciones, SA

Maria J. Portella explains what autism is, both as the mother of a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and as a neuropsychologist. This book not only provides the testimony of a mother trying to learn from her son, but also becomes a comprehensive and informative essay on the specific difficulties that affect individuals with ASD.

• I want to stop being an insider: Messages from an autistic prison.

Author: Birger Sellin / Publisher: Galaxia Gutenberg

A haunting testament to the seemingly impossible, this book gathers a selection of texts by Birger Sellin (1973), offering a glimpse into the tormented inner world of an autistic man. His descriptions of his moods, his poems, letters, and reflections display a rare beauty and a wealth of nuance. With impetuous, stark, and fragmented prose, imbued with great emotional precision, Birger Sellin cries out for help from a prison of inner isolation.

• Gone in the Land of Autism: Climbing the Walls of Autism's Silent Prison

Author: Idor Kedar / Publisher: Double Buck Publishing, LLC

Gone in the Land of Autism opens a window into nonverbal autism through several short, autobiographical essays, each of which brings fresh insights into the symptoms of autism, effective and ineffective treatments, and the inner emotional life of a boy with severe autism.

• I think differently. The extraordinary testimony of an autistic genius

Author: Josef Schovanec / Publisher: Ediciones Palabra, SA

A mathematical genius, a doctor of philosophy, and fluent in a dozen languages, his story is that of a child who didn't utter a single word until the age of six and who only overcame this challenge thanks to his parents' determination. Josef reveals his true personality and allows us to access the mysteries of the brain and how it interacts with its environment.

• Gifts and invisible seas (CAT)

Authors: Sanisidro Fontecha, Guillermina; Montllor Linares, Raquel; García Aguilera, Rosario; Cruz Guerrero, Katuy; Valderrábano Alonso, Elena; Jiménez Alanzor, Silvia; Beltrán Torres, Gemma; Ruiz Magan, Antonia. / Publisher: Con M de Mujer

Invisible Women and Mothers has been written by a group of mothers with children with functional diversity where they make known their reality and thus make visible the care that women carry throughout their lives.

• The reason I jump

Author: Naoki Higashida / Publisher: Roca Bolsillo

Naok Higashida, one of the world's leading experts on autism, wrote this book when he was just thirteen years old. The stories and answers he offers here provide an introduction to a world incomprehensible to most of us. His optimism, zest for life, and simple, accessible style make it a valuable resource.

• Nobody anywhere. The extraordinary story of an autistic girl from childhood to young adulthood

Author : Dona Williams / Publisher: Ned Ediciones

The author shows how a person who has everything stacked against them can, from the few resources that life's circumstances and their environment provide, build a good life. She teaches us that what is called autism today is a complex reality, encompassing a wide range of experiences.

• Me? Autistic?

Author and illustrator: Alejandra Aceves

It is aimed at young autistic people who feel uncertain about the future, neurotypical people (non-autistic people) who are curious to know what goes on in the mind of an autistic person, parents who feel devastated by the news that their children are autistic, and autistic people who are out there without knowing that they are.

• Autistic people also want to be close

Author: Ignacio Pantoja / Publisher: Caligrama Editorial

The visibility needed for the invisible. Through various stories, the author recounts his life and debunks many of the false myths that persist today about autism.

• We won't talk about anything tomorrow.

Author: Montse Bizarro / Publisher: Almadía

It is an introspective exploration of the complexities of human relationships in the contemporary world. Through Mar's eyes, the novel delves into her relationship with Lorena González, characterized by emotional instability, self-destructive tendencies, and a palpable aversion to commitment.

• Nothing to lose

Author: Joan López Rovira / Publisher: Valruspines

Bernat spirals into vengeance and despair when Misha Tikhonov, heir to one of Barcelona's most powerful Russian mafia families, runs him and his daughter Marina over. The Petrovs see the conflict as an opportunity to seize some of the Tikhonov family's power.

• Chosen by the king

Author: Máximo S. Bonatti / Editorial: Sheyla Buere Ferreira

James Angel Brown is a boy who lives in a wooded village in Somerset, England. He meets Alice, who introduces him to a different world, full of fantasy and mystery. When Alice has to leave him, James embarks on a risky adventure to recover a rare artifact that his only friend had given him.

• Geeks, weirdos, and Asperger's syndrome

Author: Luke Jackson / Publisher: Obelisco Editions SL

Drawing on his own experience, and with information he has been able to obtain from his teenage brother and sisters, Luke has written an honest and lighthearted book that sheds light on topics such as bullying, friendship, how to talk to others about Arperger's syndrome, the school problems it can cause, etc.