Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person: A Parent’s Handbook to Supporting Newly Diagnosed Teens and Pre-Teens

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Cathy Wassell is a neurodivergent mum to neurodivergent young people in a happilyneurodivergent family. She is CEO of Autistic Girls Network charity, which supports and campaigns for autistic girls and their families and author of Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person. She is passionate about educating others about neurodiversity to lessen the current stigma of being autistic, so that young people can grow up with a positive autistic identity Woodslane Pty Limited is a company registered in Australia. ABN: 76003677549. 10 Apollo Street, Warriewood, New South Wales 2102, Australia. Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person A Parent's Handbook to Supporting Newly Diagnosed Teens and Pre-Teens

Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person: A Parent’s Handbook to Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person: A Parent’s Handbook to

The experience of getting recognised as autistic is different for everyone, but it is affected by your age, your environment, your mental health and your supporters. Someone who is diagnosed at two is going to have a different life experience to someone who is diagnosed at 17 amid a massive mental health crisis. And they are going to be different again to someone who is diagnosed/recognised at 50, or even at 83 as happened in our Facebook group a few months ago! An exceptional and brilliantly written book to help navigate the conflicting advice given and keep your autistic young person safe and happy. When a parent is told their child is autistic they instantly enter a world of misinformation and bias, often propagated by big organisations who claim to want to "help". Many parents inadvertently end up following advice that causes harm. Cathy's book offers the practical insight and guiding hand to help parents of autistic children navigate in what can be a confusing landscape as they journey to understand and embrace their child's neurotype. This book is a fantastic addition to the literature out there on how to understand and support autistic young people. Getting your diagnosis after the early years still involves all kinds of difficulties, and Cathy Wassell talks through these in a friendly and informed manner, with personal insights and case studies which illustrate the challenges and the joys of being autistic. There is a wealth of knowledge and advice inside which will be invaluable for anyone working to help autistic young people thrive. So what’s the book all about? It’s the book I’d like to have read when my daughter got her autism diagnosis, seemingly out of the blue. It’s also the one I’d like to have read when my son was diagnosed at 18, presenting completely differently to his sister. That is to say, it’s very clear that every autistic person is different, just as we are all different.Remember our emotions are often contagious: if we are feeling highly anxious, those around us may well mirror these feelings or behaviours. Always consider whose needs you are meeting - if you are doing this because you feel you ought to, but really don’t feel prepared - it might be best to let someone else take the lead (perhaps someone from school), while you access support and develop your own understanding of autism. The Autism, Identity and Me Guidebook explores this in detail and could be a good starting point. So my book Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person is the book I wish I’d been able to read then, when I was mired in the battlefields of school, hospitals, CAMHS, Intensive Support Teams, EHCPs and Flex Learning, all while trying to keep my child’s head above water. At this early stage of our journey, we don’t realise that we’re not alone; that there are thousands of other families going through much the same. We haven’t yet gained the comfort of those thousands of families holding us up, because we’re told that our child is fine in school, that this kind of thing has never happened before, that we’re somehow not parenting right.

Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person | Jessica Kingsley

I’m in lots of Facebook groups full of parents who feel unsupported by the professionals they thought would help them, because the system doesn’t allow them to help most of the time. I can’t fix the system, although I’ll give it a good try. But I can help everyone who reads the book to understand their autistic young person a little better, and to create an environment where they will thrive. Open your minds and come on this journey with me. You won’t regret it. Acceptance Matters is a virtual conference hosted by the North East Autism Society. Featuring a panel of autistic speakers, the conference will cover topics including double empathy, school-based anxiety and nurturing autistic young people.Georgina Durrant, author of ‘100 Ways Your Child Can Learn Through Play’ and Founder of The SEN Resources Blog. There is also strength and solace in a shared identity. Much of what has been shown to increase wellbeing and reduce anxiety is finding your place in a community of like-minded people, such as with other autistic or neurodivergent folk. So often, autistic young people are told to stop stimming, taught neurotypical ‘social skills’ and disciplined because of characteristics directly related to their autistic identity. We need to be actively promoting autistic pride and creating communities where autistic young people can understand their strengths and have their needs catered for. What is autistic identity? We recognise that the work we do wouldn’t be possible without our incredible team of dedicated employees. With opportunities within our care, education, employment and family support services, there’s a career for you at the North East Autism Society.