Notes for Neuro Navigators

I received a free copy from the publisher through Netgalley.

This book caught my eye when I saw it on Netgalley as I've been reading more books about neurodivergence recently. I really enjoyed this one! This book is aimed at people who are friends, family or work together with someone who is neurodivergent. The main focus is for autistic neurodivergents, but I think a lot of the tips and advice work for many neurotypes.

There is a lot of great information in this book and all presented in an easy to understand manner and with a pleasant writing style. The last few chapters focus specifically on families, education and world place and give more specific information about those scenarios. There also are chapters that are more informational with others being more practical with lots of tips and advice.

I like the writing style of the author and how the book has this optimistic and encouraging tone despite the at times heavy topic. There is a focus on keeping an open mind and being accepting and I loved that! The author also sprinkles some humor in the pages. And I appreciated how the author was firm in her statements without coming across as harsh. This book is just filled with so many good tips and information and the way she describes things made everything feel very clear and easy to understand. There were parts that really resonated with me and that really made me feel.

To summarize: All in all I thought this was a great read and I can definitely recommend it to everyone who wants to know more about and how to help neurodivergent people. The writing style is pleasant and I thought the book was easy to read and understand. The optimistic and encouraging tone really worked for me and I loved the focus on keeping an open mind and being accepting.

This is a great book for anyone and everyone supporting an autistic person, be it a child, adult family member, colleague, student or friend. Reading it as a parent, it reminds me of Sincerely, Your Autistic Child, which takes a similar approach in elevating autistic voices to help support people -- parents, in this case -- understand and do right by autistic people.

The inclusion of te reo Māori words and concepts is beautiful and offers a new perspective on autism for me. This is the kind of book I wish I could buy in bulk and hand out to everyone in my child's life so they might understand her better and help make the world easier for her to navigate.

Notes for Neuro Navigators is very conversational, casual and approachable. This is not an academic tome -- if you're looking for that kind of book, look elsewhere.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

I really enjoyed Notes for Neuro Navigators - I felt that it gave a nice overview of Neurodivergence and Autism for readers who may not be intimately acquainted with the topics already. I will say that I went into this book expecting more tangible steps on how to navigate life as someone who is Neurodivergent, or perhaps more intricately how to support a partner who is. A lot of this book focused on supporting Autistics who are children, and I found that interesting, but not necessarily useful as someone who does not have children and is not a teacher.

I loved the intersectional view of Autism and Indigeneity, and the way the author connected concepts and viewpoints back to her Māori roots was really beautiful to me. I found the book easy to read and read it over the span of an afternoon and evening, and I loved the formatting of breaking out new concept in bubbles and tangible steps into bullet points - it was very easy to process!

This book fills a needed role in the neuro-affirming literature! I haven't seen a book quite like this before.

Written by a late-identified AuDHD adult, it is primarily aimed at people who do not identify as Autistic themselves, but who want to be allies for Autistic people in their lives - as noted in the subtitle, "The Allies' Quick-Start Guide to Championing Neurodivergent Brains." It is written in a conversational style that make it a quick and easy read. I especially loved the inclusion of te reo Māori words and perspectives.

I highlighted many phrases throughout this book. I appreciated how the author called out that words matter, and strongly suggested that parents and those who work with children reframe their language. For example, from "she's difficult" to "she's sensitive and needs an environment that fits her."

Overall I think this is a good book and I will recommend it. There are a couple of places that I think the author could have gone farther in questioning why society is set up the way it is, and what it means for all of us.

This book seems to take as a given that children must attend school and parents will just do the damage control they can when their children arrive back at home, often in distress. Yes, it's great to remind parents to give their kids time and space after school, to support them, to let them have a safe space. But I would have liked to have seen more pushback on the environments that Autistic children spend their time in, and more exploration of what a truly neuro-affirming space for kids might look like.

I also felt like the neurodivergent/neurotypical binary was perpetuated in this book. That is, that neurodivergent people need one kind of world, while the world as it is is just fine for neurotypical people. I don't believe that is the case, and I'd like to see more questioning of whether things like a 40 hour work week are actually good for anyone - whether they identify as ND or NT. We neurodivergents may be the canaries in the coal mine, but by calling out oppressive systems, we have the chance to make the world better for everyone. I do think Stockman got there in a way with talking about Universal Design, but I think it needs to be more explicit that our factory model schools and hustle culture workplaces are not good for anyone.

In general, I found the first half of this book discussing children and Autistic culture more compelling than the later part of the book which tipped into how Neurodivergent brains can improve competitiveness in the workforce. There are plenty of people who want just that, to win at capitalism, who will be interested in this section. I would have liked to have seen more inclusion and awareness of disability justice principles, like that people are more than what they can produce, and we don't all need to "take over the world" via trading our days for money.

All in all, I will recommend this book and am happy that it will soon be out in the world!

Thanks to NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for providing this ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

Loved seeing a book written by a neurodivergent for neurotypicals. Appreciated the intersectional lens of Indigenous Maori culture.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.