'I love that I don't need to feel ashamed at my happiest, and that my joy no longer needs to go through a filter before it's ready to see the light of day' Laura Kate Dale and 15 other autistic authors from around the globe, open the door and invite you in to explore and celebrate the candid, uplifting and intimate moments of autistic joy. More often than not autism is viewed through the lens of struggles and challenges - Stories of Autistic Joy is here to shift that narrative and turn the spotlight onto the unique joys that shape autistic people's lives. Joy comes in all shapes and sizes: loving relationships, fantasy writing, building soft forts, echolalia, peaceful solitude, Pokemon, stimming freely and unmasking for the first time. So, step inside and explore the diverse and heart-warming stories from around the world and celebrate what makes experiencing autistic joy so special.

As autistic self-advocates, our personal stories hold a lot of power: they are sources of strength, tales of overcoming barriers and adversity, and a way for us to assert agency and receive the support we might need. But how do you actually disclose your diagnosis? How do you tell teachers, support staff, colleagues, friends, or anybody else about your disability and account for their varied reactions? Or, if you're a parent or ally, how do you tell the person you're supporting about their own neurodivergent identity and culture? Disclosure is often a thorny topic, but in this powerful and supportive book, Haley Moss explores the language, history, and stigmas that influence how people perceive autism, breaking down ways to approach conversations about neurodivergence in different contexts. By deconstructing fears around disclosure, Talking the Talk About Autism shows how the experience can be made more impactful, safe, and less nerve-wracking for all those involved.

Different social stories to help teach children with autism everyday social skills.

An ethnographic study of diverse children on the autism spectrum and the role of media and technology in their everyday lives. In spite of widespread assumptions that young people on the autism spectrum have a “natural” attraction to technology—a premise that leads to significant speculation about how media helps or harms them—relatively little research actually exists about their everyday tech use. In Kids Across the Spectrums, Meryl Alper fills this gap with the first book-length ethnography of the digital lives of autistic young people. Based on research with more than sixty neurodivergent children from an array of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, Kids Across the Spectrums delves into three overlapping areas of their media usage: cultural belonging, social relationships, and physical embodiment. Alper’s work demonstrates that what autistic youth do with technology is not radically different from their non-autistic peers. However, significant social and health inequalities—including limited recreational programs, unsafe neighborhoods, and challenges obtaining appropriate therapeutic services—spill over into their media habits. With an emphasis on what autistic children bring to media as opposed to what they supposedly lack socially, Alper argues that their relationships do not exist outside of how communication technologies affect sociality, nor beyond the boundaries of stigmatization and society writ large. Finally, she offers practical suggestions for the education, healthcare, and technology sectors to promote equity, inclusion, access, and justice for autistic kids at home, at school, and in their communities.

Almost 80% of autistic people have a co-occurring mental health condition, and this powerful book puts their voices front and centre, showcasing the human experience beyond the medicalised language and diagnoses. This poignant essay collection shines a light on voices that often go unheard in our society. Covering a range of experiences from multiple ages, genders and backgrounds, discussions include trauma, relationships, masking, healthcare, intersectionality and more. The essays are structured along the topics of hurt (personal experiences and how they shaped the contributor), help (the tools and tips which have helped on their personal journeys), and hope (looking forward to the future). At times touching, humorous, and also enraging, this book offers a frank and honest depiction of the challenges autistic people face and the knock-on effect on their mental health. A challenge to change how our society treats and values one another.

This book approaches the subject of contemporary art by exploring the social embeddedness and identities of Singaporean artists. Linking artistic processes and production to both personal worlds and wider issues, the book examines how artists negotiate their relationships between self and society and between artistic freedom and social responsibility. It is based on original research into the discourses and artistic practices of local artists, with a special focus on emerging artists and artists whose work and perspectives engage with questions of identity. Reimagining contemporary Singapore and their place within it, artists are asserting their multiple and heterogeneous self-identities and contesting hegemonic norms and notions, as they negotiate and adapt to the world around them. This book is relevant to students and researchers in the fields of cultural studies, media studies, art, sociology of art, arts education, and race and ethnicity studies.

News headlines rarely uplift us. They tell depressing stories about everything that is going wrong in the world. The headlines can give us an unrealistic picture of what is actually happening. God is doing amazing things in this dark and broken world! He shows up today in the middle of our mess and provides reasons to be thankful, hopeful, and joyful. The headlines get the attention, but there is good news everywhere! Are you looking for it? Im all about looking for the good because when you do, that is exactly what you see. Blindness has taught me that no matter how dark life seems, there is still goodness and grace all around. That is why I love Bobby Lewis book! He helps us see beyond the bad news and focus our hearts on hope. I really think he may have the cure for the common headlines right here on these pages! After reading just one chapter, I was reminded that God is good. He is here. There is hope and joy is possible. Jennifer Rothschild Author of 14 books including bestsellers Lessons I Learned in the Dark and Me, Myself and Lies

In my first book, I dealt with overcoming stressors that engulfed my daughter from the age of five through twenty-seven. Her behaviors were so extreme at times that they surpassed what I expected in the mental health arena. I turned to God for answers as things escalated out of control. To my great relief and surprise, I heard His replies. He was in the midst of every difficult day, every challenging moment. He taught my family many things. The most important was that He was with us in the fight. At the end of that book, Kelsi seemed to have a future. She had obtained a job and held it for a time. This book covers the last two years of her life here on earth. Things began to unravel. Mental illness arose with a vengeance I had never seen and took her down. She lost her job. She began to repeatedly hit herself in the head. We prayed. We saw psychiatrists, spiritual counselors, and autism specialists. Things looked hopeless, but I expected God to heal her in this realm, not the next. The day she “went ahead of us” to heaven was the worst day of our lives. Recovery from our loss seemed impossible. Parents that have lost children would fully understand. This is a story of miraculous rebound as we listened to the voice of God. He brought us through the horror of devastating loss. The principles in His Word were the pathway to choosing life again. No matter what catastrophe you have experienced, it is possible to make a comeback. You are still here because God has a purpose for you on the earth. As you read my story, I pray this: May you find hope in relationship with Jesus Christ. May the Waymaker define your open road. May you never falter in pursuing your destiny. No matter what.

30 Days of Hope for Joy Through a Child’s Severe Illness offers hope to anyone caring for a child facing lifelong struggles. Filled with encouraging stories and Scripture, find the strength needed to persevere. Based primarily on events in Ella’s life—born with a skin disease known as epidermolysis bullosa (EB)—author and grandmother Gale Alexander shares God’s grace as He reveals extraordinary purpose in small, fragile lives. Let Ella inspire you to see God's divine purposes in your own child’s life.

When his oldest son was diagnosed with severe autism, pastor Jason Hague found himself trapped, stuck between perpetual sadness and a lower, safer kind of hope. This is the common struggle for those of us walking through the Land of Unanswered Prayer. Life doesn’t look the way we expected, so we seek to protect ourselves from further disappointment. But God has a third path for us, beyond sadness or resignation: the way of aching joy. Christ himself is with us here, beckoning us toward the treasures hidden in the darkness. Aching Joy is an honest psalm of hope for those walking between pain and promise: the aching of a broken world and the beauty of a loving God. In this place, rather than trying to dodge the pain, we choose to feel it all—and to see where Jesus is in the midst of struggle. And because we make that choice, we feel all the good that comes with it, too. This is Jason’s story. This is your story. Come, find your joy within the aching.