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A review by pocketbard
The Autistic Survival Guide to Therapy by Stephanie Jones
I enjoyed this book. The author is both a therapist and a late-diagnosed autistic woman, and comes at the topic from that perspective. Jones discusses how traditional therapeutic approaches are designed for neurotypical people and might not work – and indeed might be harmful or traumatic – for autistic people. Throughout the book there are also anecdotes and tips from her community and from other autistic mental health professionals. I think this is a really important read both for therapists generally and for autistic people who might be interested in therapy. That said, I also feel like the book is directed primarily at a particular type of autistic person: people with relatively low support needs, who are late-diagnosed or undiagnosed, or who may have been diagnosed with other conditions (anxiety, PTSD or C-PTSD, depression, BPD, etc.) but find treatments for those conditions aren’t working for them. This is a book for someone who might struggle to hold a job, maintain friendships, or wonder why they’re “weird,” not for a very high support needs person who’s been diagnosed since childhood. That said, if you ARE the particular type of autistic person the book is targeted at (or if you are a therapist who doesn’t know a lot about autism), this is a helpful guide, and I’d recommend it.