"Connecting with the Autism Spectrum," by Casey "Remrov" Vormer

Genre: Non-Fiction

Page Count: 115+

Published: 2020 (Rockridge Press)

Potential Triggers: None

Mental Health Topics: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Asperger's,

Connecting with the Autism Spectrum is a book written by an autistic, Casey Vormer. In it, you'll find many things explained from an autistic's point of view, but also what they know to be fact, such as what autism, marking, and stimming is, what special interests are and the impact they have on autistics, and the reason Asperger's stopped being called Asperger's.

Not to mention this, but it also goes over high-functioning and low-functioning, which I found to be fundamentally important because it only solidified the fact that I believed it to be a more hurtful than helpful phrase.

Over the course of the book, you'll find that it mentions things such as ableism, what "neurotypical" means, and neurodivergence. Additionally, it mentions non-profit Autism-supporting organizations. In bringing up Autism Speaks, the author did not write as scathingly as I would've expected, but she mentions that this is because she's met autism speaks workers who support working to help autistics rather than eliminating them, as they've begun to focus on.

One of my favorite parts about this book is how the chapters are organized. The first two address the basics, but then the last four chapters are written addressing communication, autism at school, autism at work, and autism in social relationships. In the communications section, you'll find that it goes over sarcasm, nonspecific instructions, and inferences as things we struggle with, which is so true! And the author wrote about it in such an open and gracious way, too. She conveyed the fact that we struggle with it without making it feel like a condemnation and it just overall came out to be wonderful.

Additionally, the autism at school and autism at work sections were written primarily to benefit people such as teachers and bosses to understand the particular strengths of their student/employee, but they can also help students and employees understand what they might struggle with just because they're autistic and what they might be better at for that same reason.

Finally, there's a section just for autistics and social relationships. I found this section incredibly enlightening because this is something I struggle to put into words. It helped me to explain what my view of relationships is like to other people around me and also to think about it just for myself and really internalize and make some logical conclusions about things.