The Adolescent and Adult Neuro-diversity Handbook – Review

“The Adolescent and Adult Neuro-diversity Handbook:”

Asperger Syndrome, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and
Related Conditions

by Sarah Hendrickx
Jessica Kingsley Publishers

I have recently been reviewing the book lists that we send out with our diagnostic reports and some of you will be very familiar with those. Thus, we have booklists for adults, teenagers and children on the Autism Spectrum and book lists for other neurodiversity, including Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, Irlen Syndrome and so on.

I realised that we had probably missed out by not including the Adolescent and Adult Neurodiversity handbook, Asperger Syndrome, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and related conditions by Sarah Hendrickx, with a chapter on Dyslexia by Claire Salter and have subsequently added it to all of our book lists.

The design of the book, in my opinion is very neuro diverse friendly. The chapters begins with a definition of neurodiversity and then there are chapters on the following neuro diverse conditions:

• Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder/Attention Deficit Disorder
• Autistic Spectrum conditions: Asperger Syndrome
• High functioning Autism
• Pervasive Developmental Disorder/not otherwise specified PDD/NOS

This book was written in 2010 and therefore was written prior to the changes to the DSM which was revised in 2013 and has got rid of all of the sub categories and simply talks about Autism Spectrum Disorder. It will probably be the case that the eleventh revision of the International Classification of Diseases will result in the same revision.

Chapters are then written on:

• Dyslexia
• Dyspraxia/Developmental Coordination Disorder
• Dyscalculia
• Mathematic Disorder
• Dysgraphia (disorder of written expression)
• Tourrette’s Syndrome
• Anxiety Disorders
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

The final two chapters focus on the learning environment and the working environment looking at teaching approaches and workplace adjustments.

The book clearly embraces diversity and also provides a number of helpful suggestions. The definition of neurodiversity is defined as a way of processing information and making sense of the world in a way that differs from the typical (neurotypical). I wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone who experiences any neurodiversity or has family members with neurodiversity.