Wired Our Own Way: An Anthology of Irish Autistic Voices is the first collection of personal essays written by autistic Irish adults. One in twenty-seven Irish school children are now diagnosed as autistic, and autism is entering the general population’s consciousness much louder than it did in the past. As understanding about autism spreads, more and more adults are now finding out that they are autistic. This anthology shines a light on how important autism identification is, and how the label of ‘autism’ can enhance ones self-understanding and self-compassion.
Throughout this collection of essays, the writers highlight how the lived-experience of autism varies drastically from one autistic person to another, and show that there is no one way to be autistic. From meltdowns to mental health, from being diagnosed in early childhood to being diagnosed in late adulthood, from cultural perceptions of autism to employment, the essays explore the huge range of diversity within the autistic Irish experience.
One of the strengths of this book is that it contains a diversity of essays written by a variety of new voices, established writers (including Nuala O’Connor, Fiacre Ryan, Naoise Dolan, Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan, Stefanie Preissner and more), and people in the public eye (included James McClean, Adam Harris and more).
Please note: All images have basic ALT text descriptions for visually impaired readers, but if anyone wants a more detailed breakdown of a photo (e.g the ones containing multiple books), please leave a comment and I will respond with a more thorough breakdown.
The book launch of “Being Autistic (and what that actually means)” is done and dusted, and happily etched in my memory.
My favourite part of the evening was when a little boy told me “I’m autistic and I’ve never met another autistic person before”, and now here he was in a room full of autistic people, and feeling part of something bigger, and not alone.
Another special moment for me was when I was reading the section in my book on autistic stimming (which is a type of repetitive movement or behaviour that autistic people can do to regulate themselves) and the children started putting their hands up to tell me about their own stims. In that moment, in that room, autism was normalised to those children, which was one my biggest goals when I decided to write this book.
How I made the launch Autism Friendly:
The launch took place in Dubray bookshop, Cork. Dubray were wonderful to work with, and together we did the following to make this an Autism Friendly book launch:
1. I made a Visual Plan/ social story that showed what to expect at the book launch, and when to expect it. This included photos of the venue, and most importantly, explanations about where to go if anyone needed a quiet place, including the quiet corner or downstairs in the bookshop. This was the social story:
2. There was a Quiet Space prepared at the opposite side of the room to where the launch was happening. This quiet space had armchairs, a bean bag, cushions, fidgets, ear defenders and colouring. It was not possible to have the Quiet space in a different room, which would be the ideal type of Quiet space, but it was separated from the main launch space by multiple bookshelves.
3. There was a variety of places to sit, including chairs, cushions, bean bags and blankets, which gave people a Sensory Choice of where they were most comfortable to sit (although a lot of adults had to stand as there was quite a big crowd!)
4.There were Fidgets and Ear Defenders available in abundance so anyone who wanted them could use them. Fidgets help a lot of neurodivergent kids to focus and listen (even if they look like they are distracted and not paying attention), and ear defenders allow noise sensitive kids to hear less background noise.
4. There were colouring sheets of illustrations from the book on clipboards (thank you to the illustrator Rebecca Burgess for making these for me!). The clipboards were to prevent the sheets tearing. This gave the children an Activity and Focus on arrival, so there was no pressure to communicate nor socialise if they did not want to.
5. I considered the Attention Span of the age group, and kept the reading and speeches short as some of the autistic kids present were quite young. A good friend of mine, Eve McDonnell, who is a children’s author, introduced me, and kept it short and fun.
6. People could choose from a Choice of sharpies or pens (including a choice of colour) for the book signing. I also made it clear that children did not need to get their book signed unless they wanted to. NB: While most of the kids loved the choice as it gave them a conversation topic when they reached me, some kids found the choice stressful. When I saw that a child was stressed by the choice, I chose for them by saying “How about I use my favourite one, that’s the blue pen…” which worked well. It was also really important not to rush the kids while making their choice, as autistic kids can take a bit longer to process language and choice.
7. There was a choice of drink flavours (cordial) and plain water to cater to different sensory tastes.
Extras: Displays of books with Neurodivergent Representation:
My children love when books have characters similar to themselves, as we probably all do. I asked Dubray could they do a display of kids books with autistic or neurodivergent characters, and books written by neurodivergent authors. Dubray did a brilliant display of books for children of all ages and interests, both fiction and non-fiction.
Not only did they do a kids book display but they did an adult one too.
I regularly hear people calling neurodivergent people “neurodiverse”, which is incorrect language, but an easy mistake to make. The language around this topic can be confusing, and I love that the word “neurodiversity” has entered society’s collective conversation, but I would love to see the correct language being used. It’s important that I make it clear that I don’t want to dissuade anyone from speaking about neurodiversity for fear of making a mistake. It’s okay to make a mistake! I simply hope that this article clears up any language confusion people might have.
What’s in this article?
Firstly, this article will explain what neurodiversity and neurodivergence mean.
Secondly, it will discuss how to use the correct language when referring to groups of people (neurodiverse, neurodivergent, neurotypical).
Neurodiversity is the concept that the human race is made up of people with different types of brains, or neurotypes. Most people have neurotypical brains, but it is also natural and normal to have a brain that works differently to a neurotypical brain.
What is a Neurodivergent brain?
Neurodivergent = Neuro (brain) + Divergent (differs from the norm)
A neurodivergent brain is one that works differently to the more common, neurotypical brain. Some people call this “being wired differently”.
There are many different neurotypes that can make a person be neurodivergent, including Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, etc.
Many neurodivergent people have more than one neurodivergent neurotype, e.g. a person might be Autistic and ADHD (which is often referred to as AuDHD), or ADHD and dyslexic etc.
Is it rare to be Neurodivergent?
Research has found that 1 in 10 people are neurodivergent (NIH, 2022), which shows that neurodivergence is not rare (but it is rarer than being neurotypical).
The correct language when referring to groups of people:
A neurodiverse group is a group of people who have different neurotypes to each other i.e. more than one neurotype in the same group.
Group 1: A group of people who are all the same neurodivergent neurotype = A neurodivergent group and NOT a neurodiverse group.
This is the most common group of people to be labelled incorrectly, in my opinion.
A group of people who are all neurodivergent, and have the same neurotype to each other, is a neurodivergent group. They are NOT a neurodiverse group, as there is no diversity of neurotypes within the group.
Examples:
A group of all autistic people = a neurodivergent group.
A group of all ADHD people = a neurodivergent group.
Group 2: A group with both neurotypical people + neurodivergent people = A neurodiverse group.
A group of people with different neurotypes to each other is called a neurodiverse group, even if there are neurotypical people in the group. This is because there is a diversity of neurotypes within the group.
Examples:
A group of neurotypical people and ADHD people = a neurodiverse group
A group of neurotypical people and autistic people = a neurodiverse group
Group 3: A group of people with more than one neurotype, but no neurotypical people = A neurodiverse group and/or a neurodivergent group.
If the people in the group have different neurotypes to each other, but are all neurodivergent, then this can be called either a neurodiverse group or a neurodivergent group.
Examples:
A group of autistic people and ADHD people = A neurodiverse or neurodivergent group
A group of ADHD people and Dyspraxic people = A neurodiverse or neurodivergent group.
Group 4: A group of all neurotypical people = A neurotypical group
A group of all neurotypical people is neither a neurodiverse nor a neurodivergent group. They are simply a neurotypical group.
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