How can a collation of blog posts demonstrate the many elements of Autistic lived experience and guide readers on how to support development and change?

Reflecting on their personal experience, author and advocate Yenn Purkis curates a series of blog posts, reflecting on the many aspects of living with Autism including identity, community, relationships, sexuality and gender diversity, mental health, and self-advocacy.

Providing an analysis on how these topics have been navigated in the past, A Neurodivergent Blogger offers advice and guidance on allyship, and advocacy, with suggestions on how we can improve and support positive change.

Aiming to promote a sense of empowerment, agency, and support, this book is ideal reading for students of Disability Studies, Autism and Autistic Studies, Gender Studies, Queer & LGBT+ Studies, and Social Work, as well as Autistic folk and allies.

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Content warning
• Learning objectives
• Introduction
• 1 Autistic identity
  • Coming home to autistic identity (Purkis, 2022)
    • Autistic culture
    • Are we speaking the same language? Why autistic communication isn’t “wrong” (Purkis, 2018)
  • Managing microaggressions
    • A little manifesto – microaggressions, neurodiversity, and gender diversity (Purkis, 2021)
    • Challenges with microaggressions, unconscious bias, and unchecked privilege (Purkis, 2023)
  • Autistic pride and advocacy
    • A parent’s guide to autistic pride, (Purkis, 2018)
  • Thoughts on some “therapies” to avoid
    • Neurodiversity Pride Day – Reflections on what Pride actually means (Purkis, 2022)
  • Conclusion
• 2 The social and medical models of disability
  • Blog posts on the social and medical models of disability
    • The DSM-5 autism criteria rewritten with neurodiversity in mind (Purkis, 2015)
    • The medical model and the social model of disability and the future of diagnosis (Purkis, 2023)
    • A problematic dichotomy: Autistic pride and accessing disability funding (Purkis, 2020)
  • Conclusion
• 3 Strategies for autistic thriving and being in a good place
  • Self-advocacy
    • Some reasons why we really need autism advocacy (Purkis, 2016)
  • Advocacy
    • Self-advocacy – for yourself! (Purkis, 2023)
  • Resilience
    • Why I talk about autism and resilience so much (Purkis, 2017)
    • Failing successfully (Purkis, 2021)
  • Allies
    • All about allies (Purkis, 2021)
  • Conclusion
• 4 Navigating the social world
  • Autistic culture and communication – learning to speak autistic (Purkis, 2021)
    • Empathy
    • Why empathy is not as simple as it seems (Purkis, 2022)
  • Relationships and friends
    • My starring role – autism and masking (Purkis, 2018)
    • My ex-friends – learning it is OK not to be 100 per cent popular (Purkis, 2021)
  • The autistic community and autistic space
    • We are family – autistic space (Purkis, 2019)
  • Conclusion
• 5 Gender diversity and sexuality
  • Autism and gender diversity – experiences of autistic folks, challenges, and empowerment
    • Trans Day of Visibility (Purkis, 2023)
    • I am Yenn. Affirming gender, affirming self (Purkis, 2019)
  • Autism and sexuality
    • Autism and sexuality and relationships (Purkis, 2021)
    • On being asexual (Purkis, 2022)
  • Conclusion
• 6 Managing sensory processing issues
  • Addressing sensory issues
    • The need for sensory accessibility and understanding (Purkis, 2020)
    • “How can you not hear that?” Communicating sensory difficulties (Purkis, 2016)
    • Sensory issues are accessibility issues (Purkis, 2019)
  • Conclusion
• 7 Mental health – places within the mind
  • Managing anxiety
    • Managing anxiety – thoughts and strategies (Purkis, 2023)
  • Accessing support and other strategies
    • What happens when mental health services get it right? (Purkis, 2020)
  • Addressing self-doubt and impostor syndrome
    • Stop, impostor! Impostor syndrome – confidence and intersectionality (Purkis, 2021)
  • The value of pets
    • Little kitty therapists (Purkis, 2023)
  • Conclusion
• 8 Employment and the workplace
  • New adventures – doing things you love (Purkis, 2024)
  • To disclose or not disclose (Purkis, 2022)
  • “W” is for “Work” (Purkis, 2022)
  • Conclusion
• 9 Navigating accommodation
  • Home at last (Purkis, 2020)
  • My accommodation journey (Purkis, 2022)
    • Content warning: reference to suicide, prison
  • Conclusion
• Epilogue
• Notes
• Assignments and discussion points
• References
• Recommended further readings
• Index

Yenn Purkis (they/them) is an author, public servant and advocate for Autistic people and their families. Living with diagnoses of Autism, ADHD, and atypical schizophrenia, Yenn is a frequent speaker on the topics of neurodiversity, mental health, gender, and employment, and facilitates a support group for Autistic women and non-binary people.