Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Adults by Luke Beardon

Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Adults Reviews

• 
  Moominmamma

  An excellent book on autistic anxiety which, on noticing it was endorsed by both Kieran Rose and Ann Memmott, I bought immediately.
  
  I think it covers all of the areas in life that are likely to be anxiety inducing for autistic people but, importantly, it avoids placing 100% of the responsibility on the individual and gives its main focus to necessary support and accommodations. Clearly this flies in the face of many 'self help' approaches I've come across (and, out of sheer desperation, I've probably tried most of them!) and is a very welcome change. Certainly I could have done with the chapters on university and the workplace decades ago!
  
  It's written in an informal, friendly style, which makes for an easy read, and isn't overly long either. I'd say it takes just a few hours. It's also quite a relief to read something on the subject from a fellow autistic. I think many autistics are likely to find that it bolsters their own thoughts and maybe puts a different interpretation on many negative experiences, which might have previously been put down to individual failings, limitations and difficulties, instead of what I believe to be an almost universal lack of acceptance and understanding from non autistics.
  
  My only wish now is that a similar approach could be taken to burnout (which is only mentioned briefly towards the end of the book) and intergenerational trauma, both of which can originate in the kind of off the scale anxiety commonly experienced by autistic people. We really need to know how to help family members to recover once the damage has already been done and the person is in an entrenched state of breakdown, retreat and extreme withdrawal.
• 
  Liz

  I have never felt so ‘seen’ in all my complexity as an Autistic adult. This book does not miss a beat. It articulates the subtlety of things so minute, yet so affecting, in a way that educates so wonderfully. I recommend that everyone who desires to understand Autism reads this. I will be offering it as my user manual. This book is the most enormous achievement in Autistic education, as indeed are Luke Beardon’s other books. A hearty thank you for this glorious resource.