April 2025 ~ Autism Awareness / Acceptance Month

​Hello Everyone,
 
This month’s BLOG will continue with a chance to view my slideshow GALLERY of Books and focus on the offered Extended Book Reviews. The slideshow shows the book covers, divided into the following categories ~

     AMAZING ADVENTURES
     DIAGNOSIS, DOCTORS, DENIAL
     SAVVY SOLUTIONS
     SCHOOL ON THE SHORT BUS
 
Hopefully, these stories will help parents, clinicians, academics, and all people #Autism, in connecting with those who have gone before us on their Autism Journey. This April 2025 ~ Awareness / Acceptance Month’s BLOGs will continue to give snippets of my Extended Book Reviews; find full reviews on website MENU; along with a LINK to purchase the eBook. You will find each Autism story to be engaging, compelling, and as different as each family's Autism journey.

From the Category – SAVVY SOLUTIONS. Read the full reviews, plus LINKs to eBooks here, on www.sarasautismsite.com. 

Excerpts from the book – (1% indicates location in the Kindle version of the book, instead of page numbers).

The ABCs of Autism Acceptance by Sparrow Rose Jones, eBook 2016; an Extended Book Review with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker
 
1%       I am an Autistic adult, so all those messages of despair are about me and people like me. I hear the terrible things that are said about Autism and those of us who are Autistic and I have to wonder if the people saying those things believe we don’t have feelings. Or maybe they think we’re too far gone to ever hear what they’re saying about us. But they are wrong.
 
We hear and understand and hurt. And not just Autistic adults, but children too. We hear what is said about us, and it is devastating.

1%     My goal was to write something every day in April (Autism Awareness Month), working my way through the alphabet as I talked about ways to understand and accept us better.
 
This is a book about ways that it is wonderful to be Autistic and ways that the world makes it very difficult for us Autistics to find a place to survive and thrive in it. As I wrote, sometimes I felt myself speaking to fellow Autistic adults, and at other times to parents of Autistic children.

< My Thoughts >   "We hear and understand and hurt."
 
​About this author whose first book, No You Don't: Essays from an Unstrange Mind, and this second book were written as Sparrow Rose Jones, now is proudly known as Maxfield Michael Xavier Sparrow, a multiply neuro-divergent meta gender writer, and scholar activist. Max writes and speaks to Autistic adults, and to families and mentors of Autistic children. He shares that he is in solidarity with the message that "you are not alone, and you are not broken." "Know that I don't want the children of today to spend tomorrow going through the things I lived through yesterday." (Quoted and retrieved from – Divergents Magazine -
https://www.divergents-magazine.org › maxfield-sparrow).

​​1%     Important ideas: presume competence, do not try to fix us for we are not broken, help us to live the fullest and most fulfilling lives we can, always remember to include us as the main stakeholders in the decisions that are made about us and our future.

1%       Bring an open mind to this book. You may feel challenged by some of what you read. Some of these essays will make you angry or sad. I hope all of them will move you to action. I want you to challenge ableism.
 
I want you to listen to Autistic people. I want you to help us as we work to make the world a better, safer place for us to live. If you are Autistic, I want you to love and accept yourself for who you are at this moment, and to never give up on yourself in your quest to be the person you dream of being.
 
2%       You will always be Autistic, and that is a wonderful thing. Embrace who you are and work to become the best you can be. The world needs your voice – whether it comes from your mouth, your hands, or from someplace else entirely. The world needs your opinions and dreams.

End of this excerpt from the eBook by Max Sparrow, aka Sparrow Rose Jones. See the full Extended Book Review here on my website.
 
Thank you for reading and sharing my BLOGs. Comments are welcomed, to be viewed and answered privately. My goal is to assist families, clinicians, educators, and all people ‘autism’, to continue their journey on the Autism Highway. At the end of each website Extended Book Review, please find a source to have the whole book to read.

Regards,
Sara Luker

​Paid Link Disclosure -

These Extended Book Reviews have an Amazon Link for actual book purchases. Please read this Paid Link Disclosure AKA Affiliate Links Disclosure:
     Sometimes there are paid links, also known as affiliate links, used on this site. My website, www.sarasautismsite.com, is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. This is an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. 
     I may earn or receive a small paid commission from referrals for book purchases made through posts, pages, and links on this site. But I try to remain unbiased and I do not accept paid reviews. All opinions expressed here are my own. 
     There is no extra cost to you when purchases are made using the provided links. By using the links I provide you agree that you’ve read this paid link disclosure statement. 
Thank you! 
Sara Luker
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