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

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Her riveting narratives, showing her growing understanding of her young patients, capture how it is to be autistic. I have worked with many, many families over the years and I can tell you this is all ‘normal’, whatever that means! Many children will start to notice differences between themselves and their peers and this often shows they are ready to have these discussions, but some children, won’t ever talk about this. 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. That trauma doesn’t need to happen, and the more everyone who comes into contact with this young person understands about an internal presentation of autism – one almost opposite in some ways to the ‘classic’ presentation we all think we know – the less traumatised they will be.

Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person by Cathy - Waterstones

This fascinating book provides an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of autism for parents wishing to learn about autism and how to support their autistic young person. 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". Signs to spot in your own child can include different behaviours in and outside school, and exhaustion.You may have battled for years to try and get an autism assessment or are carrying the weight of comments from ‘well-meaning’ family members or professionals. Children who make it to late primary/early secondary age before being picked up by the system tend to present with traits that are harder to spot, meaning it can be harder to engage professionals in the diagnostic process and gather the necessary support. What will happen when all their familiar teachers, educational assistants and friends disappear after graduation? Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person is a recently published book aiming to help parents and carers support newly diagnosed teens and pre-teens.

Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person | Jessica Kingsley

Drawing on her experiences as the mother of a child on the autism spectrum and a child psychiatrist, Katharina Manassis shares common transition-related challenges and offers real solutions for each. Rebecca Duffus is an Advisory Teacher working with students and educators in mainstream and specialist schools, plus local council and education services.We have TWO copies of SEND parent, Cathy Wassell’s new book, Nurturing Autistic Young People, illustrated by Eliza Fricker. 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.

Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person by Cathy - Waterstones Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person by Cathy - Waterstones

The emphasis on strengths and differences rather than 'deficit' or 'disability' is brilliant and it is an inclusive read, embracing as it does, the neurodiverse universe. Using a clear five step formula, the book explores the perspectives of children, to guide teachers as they support them within the school environment. But the memory of my doctor on the unit saying to me ‘I don’t think you’re autistic, I think you just have high social anxiety’ is a memory now hard-wired into my brain, and one which drives me to want to make a difference for others. Plenty of positive and practical suggestions on how to nurture your young person are offered alongside recommendations of how to also advocate for them. My name is Wendy Pearson, I am an autism mentor and practitioner providing mentoring support and advice for autistic young people, adults and their families.A book packed full of information, written in a lovely style, like a friend talking to you, leading you by the hand through what they have learned. I began to experience debilitating panic attacks, which stopped me from going to lessons, socialising with my friends, and enjoying my life. I was having obvious autistic meltdowns daily on the unit, and because I was so distressed, my autistic masking was poor, yet it still wasn’t recognised. However, we share enough similarities to embark on this journey together and overcome the obstacles posed by the often pathologized perception of autism. When autistic traits go unnoticed for longer, possibly because the individual learns early on how to mask their differences, this can sometimes lead to more challenges in terms of parents finding the right support and understanding for their teens.

Autistic young people | North East Autism Society Autistic young people | North East Autism Society

It is important that the supporting adult is able to keep calm, give enough processing time and speak about autism very positively. Even for those diagnosed earlier, there is the risk of being made to feel like an outcast because of the diagnosis, or of being forced into traumatising therapies like applied behavioural analysis. She details how these autistic children's first friendships originate, the pitfalls and pleasures they experience in relating to their peers, their dreams, and their fears of social contact.Help us to continue making a positive difference to the lives of autistic individuals, and their families, across the region. If you're looking for the ideal present for your office Secret Santa, give a gift in their name to North East Autism Society this Christmas and help us support autistic children, young people, and adults across the region. Since autism has had a bleak prognosis, and since the isolation of autistic children is so painful to parents, Karen Zelan's accounts of her breakthroughs with autistic children in Between Their World and Ours present a particularly hopeful perspective. 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.