What if autism isn't something we need to fix-but something we need to better understand?For generations, autism has been explained primarily through deficits, disorders, and behaviors that don't fit society's expectations. But behind diagnostic criteria and clinical terminology are real people navigating a world that often misunderstands how they communicate, process information, experience their senses, form relationships, and regulate their emotions....So I'm Autistic: A Guide for Everyone offers an accessible exploration of autism that brings together current research, history, psychology, clinical insight, and lived experience.Author and mental health therapist Shannon M. Cornthwaite draws upon both professional knowledge and his own experience of receiving an autism diagnosis in adulthood to examine what autism can actually look and feel like beyond stereotypes.Throughout the book, readers will explore autism's complicated history, changing diagnostic criteria, assessment, sensory differences, communication, stimming, special interests, masking, autistic burnout, trauma, relationships, co-occurring conditions, common myths, possible causes, neurodiversity, and approaches to support and therapy.Rather than presenting autistic traits simply as problems to eliminate, Cornthwaite asks readers to consider the environments surrounding autistic people and the conditions that allow neurodivergent individuals to feel safe, understood, supported, and able to participate authentically in their lives.Written for autistic people, those wondering whether they may be autistic, parents, partners, family members, educators, mental health professionals, and anyone seeking to better understand neurodivergence, ...So I'm Autistic translates complex ideas into approachable language without reducing autism to a list of symptoms.This isn't a book about teaching autistic people how to become more "normal."It's about understanding why they were never required to be normal in the first place-and what can happen when we replace judgment with curiosity, forced conformity with accommodation, and simply being accepted with truly belonging.
