Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Adults

‘A MUST-READ’ Kieran Rose, The Autistic Advocate

One of the biggest challenges if you are an autistic adult (or suspect you might be) is navigating the situations which to the predominantly neurotypical population might appear completely benign but which cause you huge stress, anxiety and worry.

At work, at university, in social situations, in friendships, relationships, in shops, in unfamiliar environments – there are a wealth of things that can make you feel overwhelmed if the world is full of things that you feel nobody else notices but which cause you huge distress.

Dr Luke Beardon has put together an optimistic, upbeat and readable guide that will be essential reading not just for any autistic adult, but for anyone who loves, lives with or works with an autistic person. Emphasising that autism is not behaviour, but at the same time acknowledging that there are risks of increased anxiety specific to autism, this practical book gives clear strategies that the autistic person can adopt to minimise their anxiety and live comfortably in a world full of what may seem to be noise and chaos.

At the same time, Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Adults this book gives clear guidelines and mission statements to those who live or work with autistic people that they, too, can implement to accommodate needs that are different to their own, taking a radical new step towards a genuinely inclusive world in which autistic people don’t just survive, but in which they thrive.

Author Biography

Dr Luke Beardon is Senior Lecturer in Autism at Sheffield Hallam University. He has published widely on autism and is renowned and respected for his uniquely inclusive, celebratory approach to helping autistic people thrive in a neurotypical world. He works with government authorities to develop services and model best practice, in addition to being part of a research team, and has spoken at many national and international conferences on a variety of autism-related topics. He has won several awards for his work, including the National Autistic Society’s Autism Professionals Award for achievement in 2016, and has won the Autism Hero Awards in two categories, including for Lifetime Achievement.