Looking After Your Autistic Self - by Niamh Garvey (Paperback)

About the Book

"It is a myth that autistic children grow into 'less autistic' adults. In fact, many autistic adults feel more overwhelmed as they age as the stresses of social demands such as relationships, parenting, or the work environment increase. Niamh Garvey offers tips and tricks designed to reduce sensory and emotional stress and look after your autistic self. From understanding what's happening when the stress response kicks in to using the 'detective habit' to spot your individual strengths and triggers. What's more, every element of this book can be personalised to you. Featuring strategies including 'quick calm plans' for managing triggers and lived-experience advice on understanding emotional regulation, coping with sensory overload and how to look after your senses during intimacy, this guide is here to ensure that you don't just survive adulthood, you thrive in it"--

Book Synopsis

'I no longer try to mask my autism; I now work to support my autism'

It is a myth that autistic children grow into 'less autistic' adults. In fact, many autistic adults feel more overwhelmed as they age as the stresses of social demands such as relationships, parenting, or the work environment increase.

Niamh Garvey offers tips and tricks designed to reduce sensory and emotional stress and look after your autistic self. From understanding what's happening when the stress response kicks in to using the 'detective habit' to spot your individual strengths and triggers. What's more, every element of this book can be personalised to you.

Featuring strategies including 'quick calm plans' for managing triggers and lived-experience advice on understanding emotional regulation, coping with sensory overload and how to look after your senses during intimacy, this guide is here to ensure that you don't just survive adulthood, you thrive in it.

Review Quotes

This is an exceptionally insightful, thoughtful, in depth and helpful book. Easy to read and full of practical strategies, it is sure to provide many Autistic adults with additional knowledge about themselves and their neurology, as well as methods they can use going forward to look after themselves (and their loved ones). Highly recommended!--Davida Hartman, Clinical Director of The Adult Autism Practice

This easy-to-read and engaging book describes why autistic adults find sensory and emotional well-being difficult to attain. They will resonate with these explanations, and the self-care recommendations will improve their quality of life. Family members, psychologists, and occupational therapists will also benefit from the insights and strategies--Tony Attwood

Niamh explores the depth, complexity and enjoyment of her everyday
life experiences from an Autistic adult's perspective. She gives a
wonderful, insightful analysis of her sensory experiences and
challenges in language that everyone can access and understand. This
is an invaluable and essential read for people seeking to understand
more about living with Autism. Highly Recommended!

--Julie O' Sullivan, Senior Occupational Therapist, The Sunflower Clinic.

Niamh's opening words tell us that life as an adult is hard and then proceeds to tell us numerous different ways to make it easier. This is a truly fantastic book full of ideas and strategies delivered in an entirely autistic way. It's so logical, you will wonder why you didn't think of it before. Brilliant.--Sarah Hendrickx, author of Women and Girls on the Autism Spectrum.

About the Author

Niamh Garvey is an autistic author. She graduated with a Diploma in Autism Studies from University College Cork in 2021. Niamh is a registered nurse, and lives in Cork, Ireland with her husband and three children.