Neurodiversity-Affirming Book List
In partnership with SOMA Neurodiversity Community Network (SNCN), a community initiative of local disability justice nonprofit Together We Bloom, the Maplewood Memorial Library is collecting recommendations for our Neurodiversity Affirming Book Lists, curated by Neurodivergent community members.
The books on this list either feature neurodivergent characters or are about neurodivergence. They all reject assumptions and stereotypes that neurodivergent means less than or broken, offering instead insight and understanding into the broad spectrum of the lived experiences of neurodivergence. Representation of authentic, neurodivergent characters and themes in our literature is essential for creating a community that is more inclusive, affirming, and equitable.
With three separate lists for picture books, young adult, and adult selections, our goal is to create resources that are informative, accessible to all ages and approved by neurodivergent community members as both accurate and affirming.
If you would like to submit a book to this list, please fill out the anonymous form linked here.
To sign up for the SOMA Neurodiversity Community Network, click here.
Book List Sections
Picture Books
Aaron Slater, Illustrator (Catalog Link | eBook and Audiobook Versions on Hoopla)
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Neurotype(s) Explored: Dyslexia
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: It tells the story of a dyslexic child (in a dyslexia friendly font), and explores both his experiences highlighting the difficulties and the strengths. The disability is acknowledged without catastrophe or unrealistic celebration.
Brilliant Bea (Catalog Link)
Genre: Realistic fiction
Neurotype(s) Explored: Dyslexia
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: it normalizes different ways of learning.
A Day with No Words (Catalog Link)
Genre: Realistic fiction, poetry
Neurotype(s) explored: Autism
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: A day in the life of an autistic non-speaking child and his mother. Unapologetic, unsugarcoated, and affirming in its authentic and straightforward depiction. Tiffany Hammond, the author, self-describes as “an Autistic mother, advocate, and storyteller who uses her personal experiences with Autism to guide others on their journey.”
The Girl Who Thought In Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin (Catalog Link | eBook Version on Hoopla)
Genre: Nonfiction, biography
Neurotype(s) Explored: Autism
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: It tells the story of an autistic woman who thanks her autism for helping her make an industry more humane.
My Brain Is Magic: A Sensory-Seeking Celebration (Catalog Link | eBook Version on Hoopla)
Genre: Realistic fiction
Neurotype(s) Explored: Sensory-seeking behavior
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: This book celebrates sensory seeking without using any labels. Its illustrations show the child exuberantly exploring and enjoying the sensory experiences of her every day life. In addition, Prasha Sooful, the author, shares tips for engaging a child’s sensory-seeking behavior in positive ways. The author self-describes as, an “Allied Health Clinical Educator, Clinical Audiologist, and Proud Mom of a Sensory Seeker.”
My Brain is a Racecar (Catalog Link)
Genre: Realistic fiction
Neurotype(s) Explored: ADHD
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: it provides a non-stigmatizing look at what it is like to have ADHD, told in a way children can appreciate.
Next Level: A Hymn in Gratitude for Neurodiversity (Catalog Link)
Genre: Nonfiction, hymn, poetry
Neurotype(s) Explored: Author is a neurodivergent mom writing about her autistic child
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: This truly is a book expressing gratitude for neurodiversity. The author celebrates her child’s autistic traits and shows understanding of them.
This Beach Is Loud! (Catalog Link)
Genre: Realistic fiction
Neurotype(s) Explored: Autism
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: It validates the variety of ways a beach can be exciting and overwhelming and offers how one child might cope with a new experience like that. Samantha Cotterill, the author, writes, “Being on the spectrum herself, Samantha wanted to make books that would allow kids to recognize themselves in a playful, fun, yet therapeutic way
This Is My Brain: A Book on Neurodiversity (Catalog Link)
Genre: Nonfiction, neuroscience
Neurotype(s) Explored: The general concept of neurodivergence
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: Just scientific enough, it is a great primer on neurodiversity with colorful conversational text, positivity and humor. It is a simple look on how the having different brains influences our behavior.
Young Adult Books
Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White (Catalog Link)
Genre: Thriller, Fantasy
Neurotype(s) Explored: Autistic main character, side character with ADHD
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: This is an #OwnVoices title, meaning that the author shares experiences with the protagonist he’s writing. Specifically, the author and the protagonist are autistic transgender men from Appalachian towns that used to be coal mining centers.
Daniel, Deconstructed (Catalog Link | eBook and Audiobook Versions on Hoopla)
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Neurotype(s) Explored: The protagonist is autistic, and many of his friends and classmates are also neurodivergent.
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: It is an #OwnVoices title, meaning that the author shares experiences with the protagonist they’re writing. Specifically, the author and the protagonist are both autistic Afro-Latine people. Daniel has many friends who embrace him and never treat him as a problem for being autistic.
Disability Visibility: 17 First-Person Stories for Today: Adapted for Young Adults (Catalog Link)
Genre: Nonfiction, essay anthology
Neurotype(s) Explored: a diverse array of disabilities and neurotypes
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: This is an anthology of first-person accounts of what it is to be disabled. Although not focused specifically on neurodivergence as a disability, the variety of representation, both in terms of the backgrounds of the writers and the disabilities they live with, drawn together by the shared experience of marginalization is powerful.
The Luis Ortega Survival Club (Catalog Link | Audiobook Version on Hoopla)
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Romance
Neurotype(s) Explored: Autism
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: The narrative follows a non-speaking autistic girl who makes a supportive group of friends without being asked to mask her autistic traits. She experiences a traumatic event before the events of the book, and she is able to rely on her new group of friends to help her recover and feel safe again.
My Brain is Different: Stories of ADHD and Other Developmental Disorders (Catalog Link)
Genre: Nonfiction, Manga, Essay anthology
Neurotype(s) Explored: Autism, ADHD, learning disabilities
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: through personal essays transformed into manga comic panels, nine authors discuss the challenges and triumphs of being neurodivergent, especially in a Japanese cultural context. Each author explores how they received diagnoses, got support from those around them, and developed a better understanding of themselves.
Something More (Catalog Link | eBook Version on Hoopla)
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Romance
Neurotype(s) Explored: Autism
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: An #OwnVoices novel, Something More closely follows the protagonist’s internal monologue, compassionately demonstrating the challenges and triumphs of her adaptation to a more fulfilling social life than she had before knowing she was autistic.
Tilly in Technicolor (Catalog Link | Audiobook Version on Hoopla)
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Romance
Neurotype(s) Explored: Autism and ADHD
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: the narrative focuses on how the romantic leads’ neurodivergence (ADHD for Tilly and Autism for Oliver) give them strengths to thrive during their international summer internship.
Adult Books
ADHD 2.0: New Science and Essential Strategies for Thriving with Distraction-From Childhood Through Adulthood (Physical Book Catalog Link | eBook and Audiobook Catalog Link)
Genre: Nonfiction, psychology, science
Neurotype(s) Explored: ADHD
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: It focuses on thriving as an individual with ADHD in a way that acknowledges and engages with how that engages with a neurotypical world.
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories From the Twenty-First Century (Catalog Link)
Genre: Nonfiction, essay anthology
Neurotype(s) Explored: a diverse array of disabilities and neurotypes
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: This is an anthology of first-person accounts of what it is to be disabled. Although not focused specifically on neurodivergence as a disability, the variety of representation, both in terms of the backgrounds of the writers and the disabilities they live with, drawn together by the shared experience of marginalization is powerful.
How to ADHD by Jessica McCabe (Physical Book Catalog Link | eBook and Audiobook Catalog Link)
Genre: Nonfiction, Self-Help
Neurotype(s) Explored: Author with ADHD
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: Author Jessica McCabe has ADHD and is the host of the long-running YouTube channel, also entitled How to ADHD. This book compiles a lot of the information from her years of producing videos with tips and tricks for those with ADHD.
Neuroqueer Heresies: Notes on the Neurodiversity Paradigm, Autistic Empowerment, and Postnormal Possibilities (eBook and Audiobook Versions on Hoopla)
Genre: Nonfiction, history, essays
Neurotype(s) Explored: The general concept of neurodivergence, mostly focusing on autism
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: This book is explores neurodiversity, autism and neuroqueer theory through essays.
NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity (Catalog Link)
Genre: Nonfiction, psychology, history
Neurotype(s) Explored: Autism
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: It traces the history of autism and advocates for a broader understanding of neurodiversity. Author Steve Silberman maps out “a path for our society toward a more humane world in which people with learning differences and those who love them have access to the resources they need to live happier, healthier, more secure, and more meaningful lives.”
Parenting at the Intersections: Raising Neurodivergent Children of Color (Catalog Link | eBook and Audiobook versions on Hoopla)
Genre: Nonfiction, parenting guide
Neurotype(s) Explored: general concept of neurodivergence
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: Written by BIPOC parents of neurodivergent children, this book gives voice to what it means to be a neurodiversity affirming parent advocate of color.
Thinking in Pictures: And Other Reports From My Life With Autism (Catalog Link)
Genre: Nonfiction, autobiography
Neurotype(s) Explored: Autism
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: This is book offers dual perspectives from Grandin on autism, that of an autistic person and that of a scientist.
Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity (Catalog Link)
Genre: Nonfiction, psychology
Neurotype(s) Explored: Autistic author discussing autism
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: Written by an autistic self-advocate sharing his personal experience and research on the autistic experience, this offers an education for neurotypical people on what it is to be autistic and masked while simultaneously advocating for the space to live more freely.
We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation (Catalog Link | eBook and Audiobook Versions on Hoopla)
Genre: Nonfiction, essays, memoir
Neurotype(s) Explored: Autism
This book is neurodiversity-affirming because: This is a book written by autistic people to tell their loved ones, acquaintances and the world in general, what it is to be autistic.