Neurodiversity Awareness Month
April is Neurodiversity Awareness month. For those who are unaware of what neurodiversity is, neurodiversity is defined as “a type of brain that is often considered as different from what is usual” (Cambridge). Neurodiversity month started off as Learning Disability Month and ADHD awareness month in 1985 but now has expanded to celebrate and bring awareness to all types of neurodiversity from dyslexia to OCD. In honor of this month, we offer you a couple of books that will help bring awareness to neurodivergence, or if you’re neurodivergent yourself, find support and stories that you may relate to.
Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstraction by Temple Grandin
“…Do you have a keen sense of direction, a love of puzzles, and the ability to assemble furniture without crying? You are likely a visual thinker.
With her genius for demystifying science, Grandin draws on cutting-edge research to take us inside visual thinking. Visual thinkers constitute a far greater proportion of the population than previously believed, she reveals, and a more varied one, from the photo-realistic ‘object visualizers’ like Grandin herself…
She also makes us understand how a world increasingly geared to the verbal tends to sideline visual thinkers, screening them out at school and passing over them in the workplace. Rather than continuing to waste their singular gifts, driving a collective loss in productivity and innovation, Grandin proposes new approaches to educating, parenting, employing, and collaborating with visual thinkers. In a highly competitive world, this important book helps us see, we need every mind on board” (Amazon.com).
The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida
“Written by Naoki Higashida, a very smart, very self-aware, and very charming thirteen-year-old boy with autism, it is a one-of-a-kind memoir that demonstrates how an autistic mind thinks, feels, perceives, and responds in ways few of us can imagine.
Parents and family members who never thought they could get inside the head of their autistic loved one at last have a way to break through to the curious, subtle, and complex life within. Using an alphabet grid to painstakingly construct words, sentences, and thoughts that he is unable to speak out loud, Naoki answers even the most delicate questions that people want to know….
With disarming honesty and a generous heart, Naoki shares his unique point of view on not only autism but life itself. His insights into the mystery of words, the wonders of laughter, and the elusiveness of memory are so startling, so strange, and so powerful that you will never look at the world the same way again….” (Primo).
ADHD Does Not Exist: The Truth About Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder by Richard Saul, MD
“Dr. Richard Saul offers a groundbreaking solution. After thousands of clinical trials, he has determined that ADHD is not an entity on its own, but in fact a cluster of symptoms stemming from 12 other conditions, each of which requires a separate treatment.
The comprehensive list ranges from harmless conditions (poor eyesight and giftedness) to more severe illnesses (bipolar disorder). Dr. Saul takes the reader through clinical examples in which he alters peoples’ lives by diagnosing the underlying cause of their attention-deficit symptoms” (Primo).
Depression: What Everyone Needs to Know by Jonathan Rottenberg
“Depression: What Everyone Needs to Know® cuts through the confusion around this often-debilitating illness, offering a practical, reader-friendly synthesis that bridges science, treatment, and everyday life.
Pithy and straightforward, this volume is the essential go-to guide both for understanding what we know about the causes of depression and the depression epidemic, and for learning what to do about it” (Primo).
The Dyslexia, ADHD, and DCD-Friendly Study Skills Guide: Tips and Strategies for Exam Success by by Ann-Marie McNicholas
“This practical skills guide helps young people with who learn differently including those with dyslexia, DCD/dyspraxia and ADHD, study for their exams. Students who learn differently can often find exams challenging and can experience a good deal of anxiety around exam time, leading to exam results that may not accurately reflect their capabilities. Much exam stress arises from a lack of confidence with the ability to learn and retain information in a meaningful way.
This engaging workbook is designed to help students to overcome these issues. It not only shows students how to develop a positive success attitude towards study and exams, but also aims to equip them with powerful strategies and techniques for learning and remembering.
…Struggling students will become confident, successful learners, with a positive attitude and access to a wide range of effective strategies, and in this way, you will achieve the results in exams that you have worked for and deserve” (Primo).
Obsessed: A Memoir of My Life with OCD
by Allison Britz
“…Until sophomore year of high school, fifteen-year-old Allison Britz lived a comfortable life in an idyllic town. She was a dedicated student with tons of extracurricular activities, friends, and loving parents at home. But after awakening from a vivid nightmare in which she was diagnosed with brain cancer, she was convinced the dream had been a warning. Allison believed that she must do something to stop the cancer in her dream from becoming a reality. It started with avoiding sidewalk cracks and quickly grew to counting steps as loudly as possible.
Over the following weeks, her brain listed more dangers and fixes. She had to avoid hair dryers, calculators, cell phones, computers, anything green, bananas, oatmeal, and most of her own clothing. Unable to act ‘normal,’ the once-popular Allison became an outcast…. Finally, she allowed herself to ask for help and was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. This brave memoir tracks Allison’s descent and ultimately hopeful climb out of the depths” (Primo).
Dyslexia: A Very Short Introduction by Margaret J. Snowling
“This Very Short Introduction provides an accessible overview of this exciting field of research, beginning with its history, and drawing on testimony from people living with dyslexia.
Considering the potential causes of dyslexia, and looking at both genetic and environment factors, Margaret Snowling shows how cross-linguistic studies have documented the prevalence of dyslexia in different languages. Discussing the various brain scanning techniques that have been used to find out if the brains of people with dyslexia differ in structure or function from those of typical readers, Snowling moves on to weigh up various strategies and interventions which can help people living with dyslexia today.” (Primo)
-MyEva Newsome
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