Category Archives: Neurodivergence

Mixing It Up: Strange Storytelling and Weird Works

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Say the word “storytelling” and a few different images might come to your mind. You may think of relaxing on the couch with an absorbing book or picture a group of entranced listeners sitting around a fire and drinking in a chilling ghost story. With our rich creative history, we’ve developed multifarious tools to tell our tales. Whether it’s a single-author book or an anthology, mixing up genres can provide fresh perspectives on storytelling.

Moving Beyond Genres With Monsters

Ada Hoffman’s latest release Monsters in My Mind is a great example of how both short stories and poetry become useful narrative tools. As a mix of flash fiction, prose poems, microfiction, and other forms, it’s evident of the delicious weirdness of which the human imagination is capable. Just as our reality can be neat and structured while messy, strange, and frightening by turns, Hoffman’s book is a unique container into which she’s packed artifacts like parallel universes, fantasy quests, reimaged fairytales, almost-sentient AI, velociraptors, and even cephalopods. This anthology is eldritch in all the right places, spilling far past the borders of the expected and predictable.

Strange Tales in Multi-Author Anthologies

The mix of voices in a multi-author collection results in a fabulous blend of shifting sceneries, intersecting timelines, and fascinating folk. For proof of that, just look at Spoon Knife 2: Test Chamber. Woven together by editors Dani Alexis Ryskamp and Sam Harvey, the collection features individuals all attempting to navigate the test chambers in which they’ve been placed. For some, the goal is mere survival while others seek to escape and subvert. Examples from the cast of characters in this anthology include an early hominid targeted by the cruel leader of her hunting party, an agent in an interdimensional police force, autistic transgender women navigating landscapes of social connection and desire, and a guy who talks to his wheelchair.

Add Our Wonderful Weird Books to Your Shelves

Whether it’s oral histories born before the advent of the written word, captivating novels, or lengthy posts on one’s social media pages, we naturally engage in narrative acts. Sometimes, our singular or collective experiences extend into realms that are wild, unusual, or fundamentally bizarre. At AutPress, we’re a huge fan of strange worlds, weird storytelling, and genre-blurring books. Be sure to pick up a copy of Monsters in My Mind, Spoon Knife 2: Test Chamber, Barking Sycamores: Year Two and other anthologies from the AutPress store.

 

Need Some Real Experts on Autism? Turn to AutPress

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When search for reliable, trustworthy resources, they often discover that it’s easy to be inundated with tons of bad advice and flat-out prejudice. Fortunately, Autonomous Press is one of the top publishers online transforming the landscape when it comes to autism. Three of our bestselling books are perfect guides to help you better understand your autistic kids and provide an environment in which they can grow up happy and healthy.

Guides to Autism, Written by Autistics

Parents of autistic children turn to The Real Experts for practical and sage advice. As a collection of essays written by autistic adults, this book contains insight from individuals who in every way, shape and form are like the autistic kids growing up in this modern era. This book features insider wisdom and accounts from respected activists like Amy Sequenzia and Neurodivergent K and autistic parents such as Morénike Giwa Onaiwu and Nick Walker. In The Real Experts, you’ll read firsthand what helped these individuals thrive.

The ABCs of Autism Acceptance

Do you wish you had a 101-style introduction to issues that matter to your autistic child? The ABCs of Autism Acceptance is the ideal primer for parents of autistic children. Author Max Sparrow (writing as Sparrow Rose Jones) challenges the ways in which autism is conventionally viewed with essays on topics ranging literally from A to Z. From an insightful look at autistic culture to revealing typical barriers neurodivergent folk face in their daily lives, Sparrow offers analysis, detailed research, witnessing from the testimonies of other autistics and even anecdotes from his own life.

A Groundbreaking Book on Typed Communication

At AutPress, part of our innovative approach centers on neurodivergent people’s lived experiences. That’s been true since our founding in 2015 and began with our first round of titles, which included the groundbreaking Typed Words, Loud Voices. Parents of autistic children who type to talk will appreciate this book, which is the first and only anthology of its kind features essays from people using this method to communicate. Dispelling the common misconception that their words are not their own, these individuals disclose stunning inner worlds of thought frequently discredited by detractors of facilitated communication and so-called “autism” experts, and ignored by mainstream media.

As you might have already discovered, many of the self-proclaimed experts on the subject are not autistic themselves, yet rely on faulty information and flawed research. If you’ve been bombarded by frightening and harmful misinformation, you might feel confused and worried for your child’s future. Thankfully, AutPress is here to help with books like The Real Experts, The ABCs of Autism and Typed Words, Loud Voices. Visit our AutPress store today to bring these valuable resources into your library.

Books About Autism: What’s Out There?

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Autism is one of the most talked-about subjects in recent years, and it’s one of the hottest topics for books, as well. Autistic writers are increasingly getting involved in publishing, resulting in books from a wide range of perspectives – including titles written by autistic people specifically for the parents of autistic children.

Like books on any topic, however, not all books on autism are created equally. When you read, it’s important to consider what type of book you’re reading, who its audience is, and what it’s trying to convince you.

Here are the most common types of books about autism:

  1. Personal Narratives

Also known as “I am autistic and I wrote about it,” these books may simply be sharing the author’s experiences, or they may be seeking to convey important information about autism and being autistic. The latter are often aimed at a more specific audience, including other autistic people, non-autistic professionals who work in the field, and parents of autistic children.

  1. Secondhand or “Viewer” Narratives

A fair number of parents and professionals, not themselves autistic, have written about autism and autistic people in their lives, as well. These range from books in which non-autistic parents write about their children to books in which professionals with decades of experience in the classroom or laboratory share their perspective. It’s wisest to weigh credentials against tone here: even the most decorated academic or researcher may write about the humans they “study” as if they’re lab rats, not people.

  1. Examinations

This category includes both heavy academic tomes on autism and creative works, like The US Book. While non-autistic parents of autistic children may pick up these books if they’re looking for deeper ways to understand their child’s perspective, these books are more frequently read by other researchers and professionals. Unlike first- or secondhand narrative-type works, their central argument and agenda is often much clearer.

Have you written a book in which autism or autistic perspectives play a key role? Keep these categories in mind as well. When you query publishers, you’ll want to specify how your book fits in to the books already out there – both how it’s similar to others and how it fills a role that no other book can currently fill.