Autism has garnered quite a bit of attention in recent years, though in spite of all the emerging research and new (but occasionally conflicting) research there still remains numerous misunderstandings and misconceptions regarding the condition. While there is currently no universal cure – and many medical professionals argue that there is no cure at all – and no clear indication as to what exactly causes it, there is enough solid information out there on autism that parents, teachers, siblings, and friends can read about to understand how the developmental disorder works. Making an effort to empathize with the daily struggles that autistic children and adults (as well as their families, employers, and educators) face regularly does nothing but create a more tolerant, happy, and productive environment for all.

Please keep in mind that this list intends to remain as impartial as possible and provide books with different perspectives on autism and its related disorders. It does not seek to push one particular method of treatment – especially when considering that what works for one patient may not necessarily work for another!! – nor tout any one particular root cause as absolute. Such things are up to parents and medical professionals to decide for themselves after thorough research. All this blog can do is provide a peek of what all is out there and allow readers to decide for themselves what they do and do not wish to attempt and believe, and it is inadvisable to take anything written here as anything even remotely resembling professional medical advice. The books here were actually chosen due to their heavy recommendations on autism-related websites, forums, blogs, and other online resources. Consider them chosen more by the community than the author of one mere article, and make an earnest effort to seek other books that remain unlisted here in order to glean the broadest possible view of this baffling condition.

1. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Author: Mark Haddon

Drawing from his experiences working with autistic children, Mark Haddon’s award-winning novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time unfolds a murder mystery from the perspective of a young man on the spectrum. Christopher Boone, his pragmatic protagonist, is fully fleshed out in a sympathetic manner that portrays the inner workings of autism without ever resorting to stereotypes or misinformation.

2. An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales
Author: Oliver Sacks

Though a comprehensive work on neurobiology and the related disorders, Oliver Sacks devotes “Prodigies” and “An Anthropologist on Mars,” two of his book’s titular stories, to autism and Asperger’s. This resource helps readers comprehend the entire spectrum of conditions from a predominantly physiological and historical perspective, though Sacks gets personal in the former tale as he explores the best route towards approaching an autistic contemporary.

3. Let Me Hear Your Voice
Author: Catherine Maurice

Anyone with a family member – sibling, child, it doesn’t matter – on the autism spectrum ought to pick up Catherine Maurice’s memoir of trying everything to help herself, her husband, and her 2 kids come to grips with the condition. The journey towards finding a workable solution comes saddled with heartbreak as the family tries everything within reach, though triumph eventually follows tragedy. For their particular needs, the behavior therapy program Lavaas came to the rescue.

4. Autism: Handle with Care! Understanding and Managing Behavior of Children and Adults with Autism
Author: Gail Gillingham

This very important manual helps professionals, friends, and family of autistic children and adults fully understand how to handle their interactions with them. Gail Gillingham makes an effort to quote a variety of individuals on the autism spectrum, offering readers a first-person glimpse into how their minds and behaviors work. Behavior therapists will particularly appreciate the tips regarding how to keep it under control without causing overstimulation.

5. Children with Autism: A Parent’s Guide
Author: Michael D. Powers

Parents wringing their hands over a kid’s autism diagnosis would do well to pick up Michael D. Powers’s Children with Autism to quell some of the anxiety. Powers specifically targets a demographic that needs comprehensive advice in clear language, applying his experience and education into helping them fully understand everything they need to know about raising a child on the autism spectrum.

6. Clinical Assessment Options for Children with Autism and Related Disorders
Author: Sidney M. Baker

Defeat Autism Now! advises parents to use this manual when consulting with medical professionals as a means of fostering better communication between the two groups. They also believe that making a copy of the completed questionnaire will help parents stay on top of testing and treatment options for their child or children.

7. The Biology of the Autistic Syndromes
Authors: Mary Coleman and Christopher Gillberg

Anyone needing or wanting to read more about autism should seek out the latest edition of Coleman and Gillberg’s The Biology of the Autistic Syndromes for the most recent findings on the spectrum’s demographics and physiological foundation. The authors explore every neurobiological facet of the condition, and while some of the technical jargon may zip over the heads of non-professionals, it still remains an excellent resource when it comes to understanding the whats and whys behind autism.

8. Thinking in Pictures and Other Reports of my Life with Autism
Author: Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin grappled against autism at a time when it was still a highly nebulous, extremely misunderstood condition. In her revealing autobiography, she opens up and painstakingly details how it came to affect everyday life. However, in spite of the obstacles, Grandin still obtained success as an animal scientist – using her firsthand experience in compromised sensory and emotional development to her professional and personal advantage.

9. The New Social Story Book
Author: Carol Gray

Because many children with autism struggle with social situations, Carol Gray’s The New Social Story Book provides a multitude of common encounters to help them understand how and why to behave. Some of them include airport security, fire drills, and bullying, but the one thing they have in common is serving as an excellent resource to help autistic children cope with a frequently insensitive world and parents form peace of mind regarding their health, safety, and happiness.

10. Teaching Developmentally Disabled Children: The Me Book
Author: Ole Ivar Lovaas

Anyone in a position to educate children with any sort of developmental disability – not just the autism spectrum disorders – ought to try reading Teaching Developmentally Disabled Children for professional advice on how to approach them and their needs. It also contains resources on guiding them through a variety of potentially intimidating or frightening social situations as well.

11. Special Diets for Special Kids
Author: Lisa Lewis

While a gluten- or casein-free diet may not actually cure autism, some suggest that it may alleviate a few of the symptoms. Cue Lisa Lewis’s Special Diets for Special Kids, which helps parents interested in working with a medical professional on discovering the right nutritional intake for their kids. It might not work in all cases, but Lewis’s suggestions certainly create a route that some may want to try all the same.

12. Nobody Nowhere: The Extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic
Author: Donna Williams

Another amazing autobiography by an autistic memoirist, Nobody Nowhere gives readers an intimate peek into how her mind works. At the same time, Williams theorizes why she displays her particular behaviors with the hopes that perhaps readers both professional and lay will understand where she is coming from. It certainly provides a wonderful first-person account for family and friends struggling to understand a loved one with autism.

13. The Sound of a Miracle, A Child’s Triumph Over Autism
Author: Annabel Stehli

When Annabel Stehli’s daughter began drawing closer to inanimate objects rather than the people around her, she eventually ended up in a swirl of confusion and doctor’s appointments. After a nightmare of a journey involving a second child with leukemia, divorce, and other extreme sources of stress, one ray of light began peeking through the shadows – auditory therapy. It may not work for all autistic kids, but it provides concerned parents with one option to consider all the same.

14. Thinking in Pictures and Other Reports of my Life with Autism
Authors: Temple Grandin and Margaret M. Scariano

The extremely influential autism awareness activist Temple Grandin offers up another excellent, indispensible resource when it comes to understanding the spectrum from a first person perspective. She also openly discusses her development and use of the rather controversial hug machine, which she believes helped greatly in teaching her how to accept and display affection from her loved ones.

15. Teach Me Language
Authors: Lorelai Drake and Sabrina K. Freeman

Parents and teachers alike who must work with autistic children will want to consult this manual on how to communicate with them in an engaging manner. It also offers up some excellent advice on exercises to strengthen their vocabulary and speaking skills in order to clearly convey their needs, wants, and ideas to listeners.

16. Biological Treatments for Autism and PDD
Author: William Shaw

Many medical professionals consider Dr. William Shaw an authority on pervasive development disorders, and Biological Treatments for Autism and PDD one of his most informative and revealing works. Parents and teachers can appreciate his insight as well, as the book aims to reach a broader audience than many other manuals. It also acts as an excellent guide to treatment options as well as other physiological conditions that may be present alongside autism.

17. Son-Rise: The Miracle Continues
Author: Barry Neil Kaufman

Barry Neil Kaufman ruminates on fathering an autistic child and the steps the family takes to try and find something to either cure or reduce the symptoms. Some find the book inspiring, and others question many of the medical procedures he mentions and claims as curative. This list leaves the reader to decide what he or she makes of the information contained therein.

18. The World of the Autistic Child: Understanding and Treating Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Author: Bryna Siegel

Teachers, parents, and medical professionals needing to know more about the whats, whys, and hows of dealing with autistic children from a clinical perspective. It offers up some comprehensive information on the different treatment options available to help them alleviate the negative impact of many symptoms and keep the condition under control.

19. There’s a Boy in Here
Authors: Judy and Sean Barron

A mother and her son collaborate on a memoir regarding how autism came to affect their family and relationships. One of their most harrowing struggles involved trying to find information on how to treat the condition and the problems that arose with the various options that cropped up along the way. Today, they maintain a loving connection and hope to inspire other families dealing with the autism spectrum.

20. Russell is Extra Special: A Book About Autism for Children
Author: Charles A. Amenta, III

Perfect for siblings of those on the autism spectrum, this children’s book sensitively portrays the condition and presents it in a manner that they can understand. Parents may want to gather the family around and read Russell is Extra Special together as a means of fostering togetherness and tolerance – especially considering how some questions may pop up along the way.

21. Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew
Author: Ellen Notbohm

This fantastic book outlines everything that adults who must contend with autistic children – whether parents or teachers – has to know about what they feel and how they feel it. In plain, simple language, Ellen Notbohm explains how those on the autism spectrum perceive the world around them and what loved ones can do to make their lives more comfortable.

22. Overcoming Autism
Authors: Lynne Kern Koegel and Claire LaZebnik

Lynne Kern Koegel and Claire LaZebnik’s incredibly helpful book, Overcoming Autism, targets parents desiring to know more about the condition. They cover almost any question that a confused mother or father would ask about treatment, behavior and development issues, choosing the right school, and many other elements of autism that require a thorough understanding.

23. Changing the Course of Autism: A Scientific Approach for Parents and Physicians
Author: Bryan Jepson

Although science has yet to find a cure or the root cause of the autism spectrum disorders, Bryan Jepson provides an interesting look into some possible origins – and the treatment options that go along with them. He does address the vaccination controversy, and while he believes that diet and the gastrointestinal tract may play a role in autism’s formation, more research on both topics is necessary.

24. Autism Through a Sister’s Eyes
Authors: Emily Hecht and Eve B. Band

Siblings of autistic children should read through one 10-year-old’s observations and accounts of her brother’s behavior. This makes a wonderful resource for parents hoping to bridge any gaps between their children and create a more understanding, loving, and welcoming home for the autistic brother or sister. It is extremely important that tolerance be instilled in family members as early as possible in order to facilitate growth and harmony.

25. Can I Tell You About Asperger Syndrome?
Author: Jude Welton
Illustrator: Jane Telford

Can I Tell You About Asperger Syndrome? targets anyone who loves a person on that particular point on the autism spectrum. It mainly attempts to address the issue from a child’s perspective, but even adults can benefit from the message of understanding contained therein. Some parents may even want to use it as a means of explaining to the newly diagnosed what Asperger’s entails.

26. The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome
Author: Tony Attwood

Asperger’s Syndrome has garnered quite a bit of attention over the past few years, and as an autism spectrum disorder it warrants inclusion on this list. It covers everything that parents need to know about raising their affected children happy, healthy, and productive – even delving into what adults with the condition can do for themselves as well.

27. Facing Autism: Giving Parents Reasons for Hope and Guidance for Help
Author: Lynne M. Hamilton

Lynne M. Hamilton serves up some earnest hope and sound advice for parents whose children have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Her book also addresses the possible physiological origins as well as their corresponding treatment options, easing some of the anxieties that many feel when faced with the problem and its resulting aura of uncertainty.

28. Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Complete Guide to Understanding Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, and Other ASDs
Author: Chantal Sicile-Kira

There are more autism spectrum disorders beyond autism and Asperger’s Syndrome, though those 2 remain the most commonly diagnosed and researched. It pays to make an effort to understand how the entire grouping of conditions operates, however, in order to paint the clearest possible mental portrait of autism and its close relatives.

29. Somebody Somewhere: Breaking Free from the World of Autism
Author: Donna Williams

Be sure to try and read this book as a sort of sequel to Nobody Nowhere , as it tends to call back to previous events. Much of what Williams discusses in Somebody Somewhere involves how a later diagnosis of multiple personality disorder interfered with her autism, leaving her perspective distorted and hallucinogenic. But in spite of everything, she still prevailed and now succeeds in living a very fulfilled existence.

30. Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism: A Manual for Parents and Professionals
Author: Catherine Maurice

Let Me Hear Your Voice author Catherine Maurice offers up a comprehensive guidebook aimed at parents and professionals with the hope of shedding as much light as possible on the autism spectrum and potentially valuable venues for curbing the symptoms. Though it focuses more on addressing the issue in younger children, much of the information to be found here can still resonate with a diverse audience.

Hopefully, the preceding books will provide a valuable framework for anyone needing and wanting to understand how the autism spectrum works. It is, of course, their choice as to which theories they would like to believe and which treatment options they would like to consider. In the end, though, what matters is that family, friends, teachers, and peers put forth the effort to learn about the ins and outs of autism so that they may create a more loving, tolerant, and empathic surrounding for a child or adult with the condition. Because society has a tendency to marginalize those they perceive as different or damaged, such an undertaking should stand as essential to a truly harmonious community.