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

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So while you may dip in and out of it, reading some sections may provide you with your own aha moment where you realise that section is more relevant than you thought! What’s important is the change in understanding that can take place to build the best environment to nurture your autistic young person. Giveaway 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.

Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person - JKP Blog Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person - JKP Blog

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. No stone has been left unturned in this wonderfully accessible, comprehensive cornucopia guide for parents and carers. The inclusion of 'real people' voices in the case studies throughout is particularly powerful and combined with the almost limitless information, advice and resources, this book is a must have for anyone wishing to support their late diagnosed teen or young adult. 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. I wish I had read this incredible book many years ago. My daughter - aged 13 - had a late diagnosis and this (hand)book is exactly what I need to be able to understand and support her better. I'd gleened bits and pieces of information about autism over the past few years, and especially the last few months - but it's all here (and so much more) in one book, written in a clear and understandable way. So many 'aha' moments. Cathy Wassell's book seems to have everything covered from co-occurring conditions to sensory stuff, with lots of practical advice on how to nurture and advocate for our autistic young people.” Book review 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.Naturally, we want to remove the stigma, but this depends not on the autistic young person to change, but everyone around them learning about neurodiversity – the more you understand about difference, not deficit, the less likely you are to stigmatise. However we can also nurture the young person so that they develop a positive view of their autistic identity, and can become advocates for themselves and others. As a mum to a neurodiverse son, an autism assessor and a team manager for an autism and mental health team this book is everything it says it going to be. As outlined above, the intended target audience for the book was parents of older children and young people who were not recognised as autistic at an early age, but in my opinion the helpful advice in this book stretches to a group wider than that. It could help parents, carers and wider family members of children diagnosed autistic at any age, and it would also offer many insights for educators, particularly those in secondary schools.

Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person - Hachette UK

This book will help any parent and their autistic daughter understand autism and prepare for an assessment. The book is full of practical information about autism which allows you to explore together your daughter's own profile on the spectrum. The book is easy to read and would enable you to gather all the evidence you could require towards the diagnosis assessment. What I love about this book, is that it also gives you ways you can support your autistic daughter, now, before the official diagnosis. It is common for people to worry about doing the 'wrong' thing and as you understand your daughter, you will find the 'Living well with autism' section really helpful and positive. Because our autistic girls should feel positive about who they are and the future that is ahead of them. Giving young people the space and time to explore and embrace their autistic identity, in a way that is positive and empowering, is essential for their sense of self and belonging. Further information The event takes place on Friday, 26th May from 9.30am.Places are limited, so please register to secure your place. Cathy's lived experience shines through - from the conversational tone and reassurance offered to the reader; the book is an easy to use, warm and wide-ranging guide to parenting an autistic teenager. I can see that this book will help countless families, and will be relevant for years to come.When I began to feel that, everything changed for me. I began to see that I had a future. I was given the opportunity to learn about myself, understand my brain, and start to make adaptations to my life which made it easier to navigate. I needed a healthy way to direct my anger at my experiences into something useful. So, I joined my local CAMHS young people’s council, to be able to have influence in shaping services. I then stood for election as a public governor for my NHS mental health and learning disability trust. I am now in my fourth year as governor. I started university to study mental health nursing, and I qualify later this year. I became a trustee for the Autistic Girls Network, of course. I started to write blogs, give talks, and work alongside organisations to create change. 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 Cathy provides the information parents really want to find when they seek to understand how best to support autistic young people. This book offers a wealth of easy-to-follow explanations, reflections, and practical tips which are clearly based upon Cathy's extensive knowledge and lived experience. This is sincere parent-to-parent peer support in book form. However, so often I will meet a young person who is at crisis point, and ask the team around them if they have an understanding of their autistic identity, to be told ‘No’. They may have been told about their diagnosis but been given little support to understand what this means, nor had the opportunity to meet other autistic young people, therefore being left feeling isolated, which can also impact their mental health. What can we do to increase understanding of autistic identity in young people? Autism is the word used to describe a lifelong difference in a person’s neurology. It’s very difficult to say exactly what ‘it’ is because it can’t be separated from the person.

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

Consider the environment: would they prefer to be somewhere familiar? Think about the sensory input such as lighting and sounds. It turns out that this late diagnosis is more and more common, particularly in those that present in an internal way, who tend to mostly be girls. It turns out our child is NOT fine in school. In fact, they are so anxious, school is traumatising them more and more to the point they may actually become unable to attend. It also turns out that we’re parenting just fine thank you very much, and that since at least one of us is likely to be neurodivergent we’re probably parenting in a much more appropriate way for our neurodivergent child than all those neurotypically-framed parenting courses they tried to send us on.

I wish I had read this incredible book many years ago. My daughter – aged 13 – had a late diagnosis and this (hand)book is exactly what I need to be able to understand and support her better. I’d gleened bits and pieces of information about autism over the past few years, but it’s all here (and so much more) in one book, written in a clear and understandable way. So many ‘aha’ moments. Cathy Wassell’s book seems to have everything covered from co-occurring conditions to sensory stuff, with lots of practical advice on how to nurture and advocate for our autistic young people.

Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person | Autistic Girls Network

Help us to continue making a positive difference to the lives of autistic individuals, and their families, across the region. Autistic children and young people thrive when adults in their lives understand and support them effectively, but for adults new to the world of autism this can pose a confusing challenge. This wonderful book provides the answers needed by parents or teachers of a newly identified autistic child or young person. Accessible and comprehensive, full of practical examples and strategies, the neurodiversity-affirmative approach outlined here will promote wellbeing and help prevent future mental health problems for autistic young people. Autistic Girls Network is part of the change we need to see. Cathy’s book is also part of that change. If every parent and every professional could read this book, autism understanding would come a long way. And this is so important, because at the heart of this are young autistic people all over the world who are continually being failed by the people who are meant to protect them. And that has to change.”I read this book because I have four autistic grandchildren, all with very different needs. So I have a vested interest in learning more. Signs to spot in your own child can include different behaviours in and outside school, and exhaustion. Find out more in this video. Claire Sainsbury states ‘any child who is old enough to understand a simple explanation…. is old enough’ (Sainsbury, 2010). Likewise, research has found that when children know nothing about their diagnosis, they can have a very negative perception of themselves (Miller, 2015 and Punshon et al 2009). Who is best placed to have these conversations? Everything in this book resonates on so many levels. A must whether you're a parent, teacher or someone who, like me, reads it and is still astounded by how much feeling different shouldn't have to be so difficult. Affirming, passionate and timely if we are to explode the medicalised myths around autism.