Approaching Autistic Adulthood: The Road Less Travelled

by Grace Liu

Getting through autistic adulthood takes guts. How do you start? From managing autistic burnout to surviving work to dealing with people ‘neurotypical-splaining’ autism, this book is packed with informal advice, entertaining anecdotes, and shrewd observations about life as an autistic adult. May it become a valuable guide for autistic people and neurotypical allies alike!

Genres: Self Help, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Disability

185 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Ruth Coward · Rating 5 out of 5]

How refreshing to read a book about autism written with such clarity. I love the directness. At the same time Grace’s friendly tone is so easy to connect with. It’s a book that looks at key topics around approaching adulthood and demonstrates that autistic people have a variety of different experiences and don’t all encounter the same difficulties. The ideas and suggestions drawn from Grace’s own experiences, and those of autistic friends and colleagues that feature in the book, are really useful, especially the sample letters and suggestions of what to say in certain situations. If you’re on the spectrum, it’s a validating piece as well as a self-help piece. If you’re not on the spectrum but know someone who is, it’s an education from people living the experience.

[masha ˚.⋆꒰১ ໒꒱⋆.˚ · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

Overall a very clear, detailed, and well-thought out book about ASD- I really appreciate the author's bluntness when describing how autism impacts her, the things she might struggle with or excel at and so on. Personally, I found the chapters on friendships and relationships by far the most impactful; clear, precise lists of appropriate topics of conversation and a table about what different body language might mean is the sort of information I desperately needed as a child, and find useful to have on hand even now. I'm honestly considering buying the book just to have those chapters close at hand!

I don't think the other chapters were as impactful, however. They were definitely validating, and there was much of myself i recognised in them - I think this would be a great resource for neurotypicals trying to understand the autistic people in their lives - but I just didn't think the content was as helpful. I will admit to being somewhat biased here, as I am currently in university and have already gone through living out, but I feel as if more could have been said about different coping mechanisms and suggestions for support. I understand that wanting to look over every aspect of adult life is a lot to cover, but I can't help wishing there was a bit more there.

I really appreciated the signposting to various resources at the very end of the book.

[Katherine Hetzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a neurotypical person, I have found it helpful to research neurodiverse issues, and this book offers a mix of almost self-help guide for other neurodiverse and/or autistic people approaching adulthood, and a really good insight into the working of a neurodiverse mind for a neurotypical person.

It lays out quite starkly the difficulties of approaching adulthood, and using personal stories of both the author and others, made me think very hard about some of the things I do - probably subconsciously - that do not help those whose way of perceiving the world is different to my own.

Written in a lovely informal style, yet pulling no punches, I found this very easy to read and understand, and incredibly informative as sit is based on experience, not study or hearsay or conjecture as can sometimes happen when the subject is approached by neurotypical authors.

[Trevor Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have an 11 year old granddaughter who is autistic and read this book to better understand a) how she sees the world and b) the challenges she is likely to face as she matures in a neurotypical dominated environment. Grace Liu has helped me an awful lot - I have so many examples of how my understanding has been developed.

It’s a sad reflection of our society that our family has to fight the education authorities to preserve her/our rights. So many adults working in schools need to read books like this and educate themselves. Then we might be able to avoid what I call ‘the naughty girl label’. Well done, Grace. 👏

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It was lovely to read others experiences, lots of the information and story sharing was very validating for me. Grace writes in a very straight forward way with lots of humour, her work is very nice to read and is quite accessible."

See full review here:
https://aucademy.co.uk/2022/03/23/gra...

[Debbie Croxall · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant book. Easy to read and follow. I read from the beginning to the end, but would be just as useful to dip into the well named chapters.
Full of realistic ideas for living with and negotiating life as someone with autism, or for neurotypicals who wish to understand more about the challenges that neurodiverse people face.

[Alison Forrest · Rating 5 out of 5]

incredibly useful, practical guide for all young autistic people and their friends/family.

[kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the book was well written and actually with a lot of practical advice for even the neurotypical on adulting.