Neurodivergent people face many unique struggles in life--including social difficulties, sensory sensitivities, sleep problems, depression, anxiety, and trauma from a lifetime of marginalization and microaggressions. Written by two neurodivergent psychologists, this workbook offers acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and self-compassion skills tailored to the needs of neurodiverse people--especially those with ADHD and Autism--so they can live authentically, take pride in their identity, increase overall well-being, and build meaningful connections to thrive as neurodivergent individuals in the modern world.
An innovative approach to help you maintain your high standards while also accepting mistakes with compassion and kindness. If you’re a perfectionist, you know there’s a helpful upside to pushing yourself toward excellence: achievement, success—and, hey, it can be fun and rewarding to work hard! But unhelpful perfectionism can just as easily work against you. It can prevent you from taking risks or trying new things out for fear of failure, judgment, or rejection; cause you to procrastinate; and make you feel like no matter what you achieve, you’ll never be good enough. Grounded in evidence-based acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), this workbook will help you discover what drives this ‘dark side’ of perfectionism, and develop the skills you need to overcome it—without lowering your standards. By leaning in to your values and treating yourself with kindness and compassion, you’ll learn to put mistakes in perspective without wallowing in self-criticism. Most importantly, you’ll find that you can allow for imperfection, without losing your drive to achieve. If you’re ready to stop unhealthy perfectionism from paralyzing your personal growth—and start embracing yourself as perfectly imperfect—this book will introduce you to a whole new you!
Written by neurodivergent psychologists for neurodivergent readers. This empowering workbook offers self-compassion skills to help you embrace who you are and thrive. As an autistic person or neurodivergent individual with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), you may sometimes feel as if you’re living in a world that wasn’t designed for you. You may have sensory sensitivities, social difficulties, struggles with executive functioning, sleep issues, depression, anxiety, burnout and meltdowns, and trauma from a lifetime of marginalization and microaggressions. If you are struggling with your neurodivergent identity, know that you aren’t alone. Whether you were diagnosed as a child or are just now realizing your difference, this workbook can help you move beyond the internalized message that there is something wrong with you, so you can embrace who you really are and manage stress before it leads to neurodivergent burnout. The Neurodivergence Skills Workbook for Autism and ADHD offers acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and self-compassion skills tailored to the needs of neurodiverse people—especially those with ADHD and Autism—so you can live authentically, take pride in your identity, increase overall well-being, and build meaningful connections to thrive as a neurodivergent person in the modern world. This workbook will help you: Acknowledge your needs and be your own advocate Unmask and express your authentic self Reduce sensory overload and balance emotions Manage rejection sensitivity dysphoria (RSD) and social anxiety Build meaningful social connections Improve executive functioning to get more done Adjust your environment to better fit your needs Most importantly, you’ll learn to take pride in your identity. Whether you’re autistic, ADHD, or both, this workbook can help you overcome self-critical thinking, advocate for yourself in effective ways, and learn practical skills to help you thrive as your authentic self.
ADHD and Asperger Syndrome in Smart Kids and Adults offers detailed examples of individuals who have above-average cognitive intelligence, but struggle with executive function impairments of ADHD and significant social-emotional impairments of Asperger syndrome. The book centers around twelve case studies of bright children, teens, and adults treated for both ADHD and Asperger syndrome. Each chapter describes diverse examples of their strengths and their difficulties and explains how these individuals can be helped with appropriate treatment to overcome their ADHD impairments and to improve their ability to understand and interact more effectively with others. Case examples are followed by updated, science-based descriptions of these disorders. Providing science-based information about ADHD and Asperger syndrome in clearly understandable, accessible language, this text is ideal for clinicians, educators, social workers, medical and mental health service providers, and parents of those struggling with such impairments. It also advocates for restoring the diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome to diagnostic manuals of the American Psychiatric Association and World Health Organization.
Let this workbook guide you toward your authentic, autistic self. You don’t have to hide anymore. If you grew up before the neurodiversity movement, chances are you were taught at an early age that your autistic traits were “wrong” or “bad.” Whether it was stimming, difficulties with making small talk, avoiding eye contact, sensitivities to loud sounds or certain textures, or even talking passionately about the things you care about—somewhere along the way you learned to mask these aspects of yourself to better fit in, avoid bullying from other kids, and in some cases to even gain the love of your own parents. The problem is that, over time, masking can lead to higher levels of stress, burnout, emotional dysregulation, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and depression. So how can you be your authentic self and still succeed and thrive in a neurotypical world? Written by a therapist who is actually autistic, this neurodiversity-affirming workbook offers skills to help you cultivate self-acceptance, manage intense emotions, and be your own advocate when needed. You’ll take a good look at the situations or people that caused you to mask in the first place. You’ll also discover: How to set and achieve your own authentic goals—with a clear view of who you are and what you care about Why self-love and self-acceptance is so important for autistic folks How to live your life on your own terms, while self-advocating for accommodations How to let go of old, hurtful messages about autistic people that you’ve internalized How autism can be both a strength and a disability Strategies to cope with burnout or meltdowns How to be assertive and set boundaries with others You don’t have to mask, hide, or camouflage any longer. Let this workbook guide you on a journey of self-discovery and acceptance. You are worthy of it. And you deserve it.
AUDIBLE EDITOR'S PICK A paradigm-shifting study of neurodivergent women—those with ADHD, autism, synesthesia, high sensitivity, and sensory processing disorder—exploring why these traits are overlooked in women and how society benefits from allowing their unique strengths to flourish. As a successful Harvard and Berkeley-educated writer, entrepreneur, and devoted mother, Jenara Nerenberg was shocked to discover that her “symptoms”--only ever labeled as anxiety-- were considered autistic and ADHD. Being a journalist, she dove into the research and uncovered neurodiversity—a framework that moves away from pathologizing “abnormal” versus “normal” brains and instead recognizes the vast diversity of our mental makeups. When it comes to women, sensory processing differences are often overlooked, masked, or mistaken for something else entirely. Between a flawed system that focuses on diagnosing younger, male populations, and the fact that girls are conditioned from a young age to blend in and conform to gender expectations, women often don’t learn about their neurological differences until they are adults, if at all. As a result, potentially millions live with undiagnosed or misdiagnosed neurodivergences, and the misidentification leads to depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and shame. Meanwhile, we all miss out on the gifts their neurodivergent minds have to offer. Divergent Mind is a long-overdue, much-needed answer for women who have a deep sense that they are “different.” Sharing real stories from women with high sensitivity, ADHD, autism, misophonia, dyslexia, SPD and more, Nerenberg explores how these brain variances present differently in women and dispels widely-held misconceptions (for example, it’s not that autistic people lack sensitivity and empathy, they have an overwhelming excess of it). Nerenberg also offers us a path forward, describing practical changes in how we communicate, how we design our surroundings, and how we can better support divergent minds. When we allow our wide variety of brain makeups to flourish, we create a better tomorrow for us all.
In The ADHD Workbook for Kids, an internationally-recognized child psychologist presents more than forty ten-minute games and activities children with ADHD can do to learn to make friends, gain confidence, and manage out-of-control behaviors.
So much depends on how you look at things: Are you a glass-half-empty person, or do you discover advantages where other people find only weaknesses? When it comes to raising healthy, happy kids, positive encouragement and support can work miracles where attempts to change and control create frustration and resentment. In her first book, The Gift of ADHD, psychologist Lara Honos-Webb offers a positive, strengths-affirming new way to look at kids who present behaviors associated with attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Instead of struggling to “tame” your easily distracted child, she shows you how to appreciate your child’s creativity, sensitivity, and passion for living. In this book, she develops the ideas from The Gift of ADHD into 101 simple and engaging activities you can use to develop your child’s unique strengths. The chapters of the book explore ways you can shift your thinking about different aspects of ADHD. Each starts with a short discussion of how a particular challenge can be reconceived as a strength. After that, the book dives into fun and positive activities you and your child can do together—often in just a few minutes—to help develop and reinforce the gifts of ADHD.
This is a handy first-reference point guide to the full range of developmental conditions as they affect adolescents and adults. A wide range of conditions are covered, including Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD, OCD, Tourette's and Anxiety Disorders.
Live boldly as a woman with ADHD! This radical guide will show you how to cultivate your individual strengths, honor your neurodiversity, and learn to communicate with confidence and clarity. If you are a woman with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), you’ve probably known—all your life—that you’re different. As girls, we learn which behaviors, thinking, learning, and working styles are preferred, which are accepted and tolerated, and which are frowned upon. These preferences are communicated in innumerable ways—from media and books to our first-grade classroom to conversations with our classmates and parents. Over the course of a lifetime, women with ADHD learn through various channels that the way they think, work, speak, relate, and act does not match up with the preferred way of being in the world. In short, they learn that difference is bad. And, since these women know that they are different, they learn that they are bad. It’s time for a change. A Radical Guide for Women with ADHD is the first guided workbook for women with ADHD designed to break the cycle of negative self-talk and shame-based narratives that stem from the common and limiting belief that brain differences are character flaws. In this unique guide, you’ll find a groundbreaking approach that blends traditional ADHD treatment with contemporary treatment methods, such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), to help you untangle yourself from the beliefs that have kept you from reaching your potential in life. If you’re ready to develop a strong, bold, and confident sense of self, embrace your unique brain-based differences, and cultivate your individual strengths, this step-by-step workbook will help guide the way.
