Autism Friendly book launch

What to expect at the book launches of Wired Our Own Way:

Niamh GarveyLeave a comment

Launch number 1: The Dublin book launch of Wired Our Own Way

Photo of shop front of Hodges Figgis bookshop

Location: Hodges Figgis bookshop, 56-58 Dawson Street, Dublin 2.

Date and Time: 27th March 2025, at 6pm

The venue:

  • The launch will take place on the second floor of the bookshop.
  • There is a lift and a stairs.
  • A section of the bookshop will be cleared for the launch area (i.e. bookshelves will be pushed out of the way).
  • The bookshop will remain open to the public during the launch, until the usual closing time. The launch is open to the public (i.e. not invitation only, not ticketed).
  • There will be some seating, but many people will stand.
  • There will be an area with a microphone and chairs for those speaking / reading.
  • There is a bathroom in the shop.

Refreshments:

  • There will be a table with refreshments, typically wine and water.

Running order of the event:

  • The first speaker will introduce the event and the book.
  • Niamh, the editor, will speak about the book and how it came about.
  • 2 or 3 contributors from the anthology will read from their essays. They will each read for approximately 5 minutes.
  • Non-speaking writers will have a communication partner with them for their reading.
  • There will be an opportunity for people in the audience to ask questions to Niamh or the other speakers.
  • After the speaking and readings, people tend to mill about and chat.
  • There will be an opportunity for people to get their book signed.
  • Book launches typically last 1 – 1.5 hours, but you can leave any time you need.

Sensory considerations:

  • There will be a quiet area set up at the back of the second floor, if anyone needs a quiet break. Alternatively, you can take a quiet break on one of the other floors.
  • The tills will remain open during the event, and therefore they may make noise.
  • Book launches can be crowded, with a lot of people standing around.
  • The microphone and speakers can be loud, but every effort will be made to ensure sound quality and volume is not excessive.

After the book launch social opportunity:

  • There will be a nearby bar reserved for people to go to after the event to socialise and have a drink if they wish. This can be a nice way to meet the writers and other people interested in the book or autism.

Launch number 2: The Cork Launch of Wired Our Own Way

Location: Dubray, 83-85 St Patricks Street, Cork.

Date and Time: 3rd April 2025, at 6:30pm

The venue:

  • A section of the bookshop will be cleared for the launch area (i.e. tables of books will be pushed out of the way).
  • The bookshop will remain open to the public during the launch until the usual closing time of the shop.
  • The launch is free and open to the public (i.e not invitation only and not ticketed).
  • There will be some seating, but many people will stand.
  • There will be an area with a microphone and chairs for those speaking / reading.
  • There will be a quieter area upstairs to take a break in. We ask that people attending respect that this is a quiet area.
  • The launch will take place downstairs in Dubray. If you wish to avail of the quieter area upstairs, there is a lift and a stairs to access it.
  • There are no public toilets in the bookshop. The nearest public toilets are in Paul Street Shopping Centre, by the checkouts for Tesco. It is approximately a 2 minute walk from Dubray to Paul Street Shopping centre. There is a small charge to use the toilets (20/ 50 cent coin?).
  • The nearby streets “Carey’s Lane” and “French Church Street” have a good selection of restaurants and cafés, for those who arrive early or want somewhere to eat after the event and who do not wish to take part in the after-event social. Most of these have customer toilets also.

Parking:

  • The closest parking is in Paul Street shopping centre car park (there is a charge).

Refreshments:

  • There will be a table with refreshments, typically wine and water.

Running order of the event:

  • The first speaker will introduce the event and the book.
  • Niamh, the editor, will speak about the book and how it came about.
  • 2 or 3 contributors from the anthology will read from their essays. They will each read for approximately 5 minutes.
  • There will be an opportunity for people in the audience to ask questions to Niamh or the other speakers.
  • After the speaking and readings, there will be an opportunity for people to get their book signed.
  • Book launches typically last 1 hour – 1.5 hours but you can leave any time you need.

Sensory considerations:

  • The tills will remain open during the event. These may make noise but are not directly next to the location where the launch occurs.
  • Book launches can be crowded, with a lot of people standing around.
  • There will be a quieter area upstairs if you need a break from the crowd.
  • The microphone and speakers can be loud, but every effort will be made to ensure sound quality and volume is not excessive.

After the book launch social opportunity:

  • There will be a nearby bar reserved for people to go to after the event to socialise and have a drink if they wish. This can be a nice way to meet the writers and other people interested in the book or autism.

Making my book launch Autism-Friendly

Niamh GarveyLeave a comment

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.

Photo of me standing outside Dubray bookshop's window. In the window there is a large poster of my book "Being Autistic (and what that actually means)" plus a number of copies of the book.

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:

Click to access booklaunch-material_29690648-2353964008-e1718707348272.pdf

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.

Two armchiars, a bean bag, a floor cushion along with a table with fidgets, ear defenders and colouring

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.

A selsction of figets toys: crochet ball, poppet, poppet ball, a yoyo, a rubix toy, and bendy fidget person

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.

photo of 2 copies of the book over 3 clipboards with colouring sheets

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.

photo of me reading from a book with a microphone

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.

Book shelf of many kids books by neurodivergent writers or with neurodivergent characters

Not only did they do a kids book display but they did an adult one too.

Bookshelf of adult books on autism or by autistic writers