Page Summary in a Sentence
This is an ever evolving page of resources suggested by people who identify with the neurodiverse community focusing on the relationship between Neurodiversity and Gender.
General Resources
Trans & Non-Binary Identities
Supporting Transgender Autistic Youth and Adults: A Guide for Professionals and Families by Finn V. Gratton.
Finn, who is both non-binary and autistic, looks at the specific issues and difficulties autistic individuals face when exploring and trying to understand aspects of their gender identities, especially when that includes navigating social aspects of gender which just seem a bit… well, neurotypical and odd to some of us. It is a really good read for those of you who want to better support transgender or non-binary autistic individuals in your life, and a really good read for trans and/or non-binary autistic individuals who want to further explore their own identities.
Trans and Autistic: Stories from Life at the Intersection by Noah Adams and Bridget Liang.
This book shares values of storytelling and sharing experiences as Noah and Bridget have collected and collated many different trans autistic voices into their book to speak very profoundly about the intersection between autism and gender identity and how the two impact on one another and our lives.
Spectrums: Autistic Transgender People in Their Own Words edited by Maxfield Sparrow.
This is a beautiful anthology of essays written by autistic trans people about being both autistic and trans and the collection, and its importance, is ultimately best summed up by the following review:
“This beautifully written collection of autistic and gender intersectional experiences is challenging, heartbreaking, emotive and mind blowing. There is one theme: My autistic experience of gender and sexuality is valid. Personally, I relate so well to the various experiences echoed in the book. The intersectionalilty of neurodivergence and gender difference leads to a life unforetold and it’s time these voices were heard, understood and accommodated.”
Wenn B. Lawson (PhD) CPsychol University of Birmingham, UK. & SA Govt. Australia
Gender Variation in Experiences & Expressions of Neurotype(s)
Authoring Autism: On Rhetoric and Neurological Queerness by Melanie Yergeau.
Melanie uses rhetoric and queer theory to explore autism, ultimately defining neurodivergence as an identity rather than an impairment; they use the idea of neurodivergence as an identity to develop to queer pathology (we do like that here at Practical Neurodiversity!) and understand the boundless potential of what it means to be neuroqueer.
Spectrum Women: Walking to the Beat of Autism edited by Barb Cook & Dr Michelle Garnett
This is a wonderful and touching collection of works from various autistic women discussing their perspectives on a wide range of issues, such as growing up on the spectrum, communication, and self-care, which Dr Garnett also discusses, validating their lived-experiences from a clinical perspective whilst presenting us with useful recommendations. Overall, this is just a beautiful book.
Better Late Than Never: Understand, Survive and Thrive Midlife ADHD Diagnosis by Emma Mahony.
Emma was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 52 and explores not only the process of diagnosis in her book, but heritability, variability in how ADHD presents in terms of gender, how to go about seeking support, and ultimately she uses her experiences to suggest and demonstrate ways to thrive with ADHD.
Gender Identity, Sexuality and Autism: Voices from Across the Spectrum by Eva A. Mendes & Meredith R. Maroney
This book is a powerful collection of autistic narratives discussing gender identity and sexuality which is just as useful in terms of finding relatability and understanding of the unique experiences of gender and sexuality on the spectrum as it is for those who want to better understand it.
For Supporters
Supporting Transgender Autistic Youth and Adults: A Guide for Professionals and Families by Finn V. Gratton.
Finn, who is both non-binary and autistic, looks at the specific issues and difficulties autistic individuals face when exploring and trying to understand aspects of their gender identities, especially when that includes navigating social aspects of gender which just seem a bit… well, neurotypical and odd to some of us. It is a really good read for those of you who want to better support transgender or non-binary autistic individuals in your life, and a really good read for trans and/or non-binary autistic individuals who want to further explore their own identities.
Suggestions & Recommendations
We hope you find what you need here, but as Practical Neurodiversity is a really new project and because neurodiversity is so expansive, we will unfortunately not have resources on every topic; so, if there is something you see elsewhere that you feel we should add or if there are resources you would like us to help you find, just let us know by using the form below.
Important Note
As we update and categorise this list some resources may be mentioned more than once due to their overlap between context and certain resources may appear under multiple subheadings of neurotype due to the complex overlaps between neurodiverse ways of experiencing and knowing the world, and we also just want to make sure you are able to find what you are looking for too.
Practical Neurodiversity 