I created The Autistic Library after spending some years working for autism charities supporting Autistic people, having worked for the Scottish Women’s Autism Network (now SWAN Autism) on their project to develop an information service for Autistic women in Scotland as well as being a Trustee, Fundraiser and Peer Support Group Facilitator for SWAN. I also worked for Scottish Autism as a Community Advisor in their One Stop Shop in Fife. This work followed my own late autism identification in 2019.
What I found in those roles was that there was a real need for better sharing of the information that Autistic people needed to live a healthy life in a world which still does not understand Autistic people well, and where stigma and misinformation are still very prevalent.
As I am an Chartered Librarian with many years experience of developing and managing library and information services, I decided to put my skills to good use. I wanted to create an online library of resources that were neurodiversity-affirmative, that promoted a view of the experience of being Autistic as having both positive aspects as well as difficulties, and that many of those difficulties could be lessened by better understanding and accommodation of Autistic people and better access to useful information and services for Autistic people, their families and supporters.
I created the library as a way to share the information I have gathered during my time working in autism information and support roles and from my personal research gathering relevant information across different subject areas, not just information about being Autistic, but information in areas such as mental health, housing, money, welfare rights and more general information on neurodiversity and disability.
Online resources change all the time and the services available to Autistic people change regularly so the information on the site may not be completely up to date all the time. It is therefore advisable that you double check all the information on this site with the relevant service or resource you are interested in.
All information shared is intended as information for you to make the best decisions for yourself, it is not intended as advice, as every autistic person is different and you will need to decide for yourself what the right services and resources are for you.
The library is also intended to be a resource that can be dipped in and out of as different needs and situations arise, that can facilitate casual browsing as well as research on specific topics, finding interesting threads to follow and entertaining and educational books to read.
You may notice that additional service listings are included for the UK and Scotland, this is purely because I happen to be in Scotland and this is where I have been working, so I am already familiar with many services which I have included here. If you are an Autistic person in another country, you may wish to carry out your own research to develop a similar listing for where you are.
It is useful to develop a network of contacts and support so that you know where to go for help to avoid getting into a crisis situation, if you can, or to help you get out of a crisis situation. Since it is much harder to do research when you are already in crisis, having useful contacts to hand can be extremely helpful. Similarly, if you have an Autistic person in your life, they might benefit from some help in navigating services and support.
The library is an unfunded project and currently only exists online, it does not have a physical building. However, I encourage you to make use of your local library to find the books listed here. More and more public libraries are adding neurodiversity-affirmative titles to their collections, and they also have useful information on local services, so they are well worth a visit. Many are also under threat of closure so will appreciate your support and custom.
I hope you find the library useful and if you would like to contact me I can be emailed at [email protected].
Aileen Paterson (she/her)
BA PgDip MCILIP