After all, once you know that a student is doodling because it genuinely helps them to concentrate, why would you have a problem with their page of little drawings? With World Autism Awareness day taking place on Sunday, a number of UK employers want to “move beyond awareness to acceptance” by encouraging organisations to hire staff who are on the spectrum. These actions are usually repetitive in nature and very tactile, involving repetitive movements, sounds or the continued ‘fiddling’ with a small object – anything from a pen to a padlock. Moves which can help attract more autistic staff include job coaching to ensure employees are properly matched with a company and role, neurodiversity training to educate all staff and making reasonable adjustments in the working day to support staff. I agree with a lot of his perspectives that others may contest (eg that autism isn't a 'superpower', although I can see that in this book some people will feel he's erred on the deficit model too much) Many will enjoy the moments of recognition (as I did the issues about shoelaces - but yeah, as another reviewer says, locking elastic laces mate!

This is a great book for someone with a family member or friend who has been diagnosed with autism to give them a slight insight into some aspects of autism.At the beginning he says lots of people will hear stuff about autistic tendencies and be like ‘based on this isn’t everyone on the spectrum’? As Pete points out, ‘This is so frequently planted as a problem that lies squarely at the feet of the autistic person. And please read the word "un-typical" like in the Kim Possible into melody, because that's stuck in my head now.

very thorough and deeply based in lived experience, which made it quite hard-hitting and intense to read for me.

For instance, Wharmby acknowledges the increased risk that Black people face from the police, which made me think about how this is a deliberate effect of an inherently ableist and racist institution designed to discipline disabled and racialised people. It often begins in childhood, when it becomes apparent that their social skills are different to that of their peers and they’re frequently at a loss to understand what’s going on.