VGCC Library Services: Autism Acceptance Month: Home

Learn about Autism

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurological condition that that affects many aspects of a person's life. As of 2020, 1 in 36 children has a diagnosis of ASD. This guide offers resources on autism from basic information on what it is to the lived experiences of people with autism, shared in their own words.

Autism Spectrum Disorder
A concise yet comprehensive guide to ASD from the National Institutes of Mental Health. Includes information on diagnosing ASD in adults, which is often missing from other sources of information.
Autism | US Department of Labor
Offers a brief description of Autism and lists resources on autism for employers, service providers, policy-makers, and youth.
What is Autism Spectrum Disorder?
This helpful introduction to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) explains the basics of what it is, how it's diagnosed, and gives other information for those who want to learn more.
Basic Black: More children of color are being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders
Report from GBH on the increase in ASD diagnoses for children of color.

Experience

Find out more about Autism acceptance events and organizations in the local area and online.

April 16, 2024-Sound Tracks: An Artistic Journey to Belonging
2:00 pm-4:00 pm: A special hybrid event sponsored by the NIMH. The free event will feature photographer Blair Bunting, violinist Laura Nadine, and filmmaker John Schaffer. The event will include a showing of the film Sound Tracks, directed by Mr. Schaffer, who is neurodivergent, and featuring Mr. Bunting and Ms. Nadine, who are autistic, and a Q&A with the artists.
April 25, 2024-Neurodiversity Movement Online: Challenging the Norm – Language, Community & Resistance
Part of the long-running Neurodiversity Masterclass series, a monthly online webinar now in its fourth year. Hosted by a neurodiversity organization in Ireland.
North Carolina Autism Society
The Autism Society of North Carolina improves the lives of individuals with autism, supports their families, and educates communities.
Let’s Celebrate Autism Acceptance Month With Inclusion
A call for practicing kindness and embracing neurodiversity.
Sesame Workshop Launches New Resources in Celebration of Autism Acceptance Month
Details and links to new resources on Autism from the organization behind Sesame Street.

See and Listen

Autism
Of the different disorders a child can have, Autism ranks as one of the toughest. There is a lot of confusion about it, but there are also many things we know today to help a child live a happy and purposeful life.
Autism in America
A genuine and straightforward look into the autism spectrum disorder as told by the families and individuals living with autism daily.
Autism Now
2011 docu-series from PBS NewHour discussing autism and the experiences of people diagnosed with autism and those around them.
Generation A: Portraits of Autism and the Arts
Depicts daily challenges faced by young people on the autism spectrum, and what creative therapies and art programs are available to help young people on the autism spectrum reach their highest potential.
The Illumination of Jim Woodring
Explores the work of American cartoonist and painter Jim Woodring, who has had hyper-realistic hallucinations and visions since he was a child and was eventually diagnosed with autism and prosopagnosia (the inability to recognize familiar faces).
Life, Animated
The real - life story of Owen Suskind. An autistic boy who couldn't speak for years, Owen memorized dozens of Disney movies and turned them into a language to express himself.
Living with Autism
Discover how brains that see the world in strikingly different ways are unlocking the secrets of our own minds.
Love, Trails & Dinosaurs
Experience the loving relationship of a mother and her young adult son with autism as they hike the 900 miles of trails within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Uniquely Human: The Podcast
Expands the conversation on autism and neurodiversity by amplifying the voices of autistic individuals and thought leaders in providing insightful, cutting-edge and practical information about the autistic experience.
What I've Learned from My Autistic Brothers
Faith Jegede tells the moving and funny story of growing up with her two brothers, both autistic -- and both extraordinary.

Read

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert
ISBN: 9780062941282
Publication Date: 2021
But Everyone Feels This Way: How an Autism Diagnosis Saved My Life by Paige Layle
ISBN: 9780306831256
Publication Date: 2024
Funny, You Don't Look Autistic by Michael McCreary
ISBN: 9781773212579
Publication Date: 2019
Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions by Temple Grandin
ISBN: 9780593418383
Publication Date: 2022