Autistic Representation in Children's Books

ALSC blog May 16. Chelsey Roos

Chelsey Roos recently wrote an important post on the ALSC blog suggesting ways to make the books in your collections reflect a more positive autistic representation.  She writes: Try this when you’ve got a spare ten minutes: open up your library’s catalog and search for “autism.” Imagine that you are autistic (if you aren’t), and you’re looking for books about people like you. What kind of books do you see? How easy is it for you to find positive autistic representation in your library?

You might see a lot of nonfiction, and a lot of books for parents, but what about books for autistic children? Is it hard to find fiction with an autistic protagonist? While you look at the titles and descriptions, imagine how these books might make you feel about yourself. Would you feel seen, or overlooked? Supported, or misunderstood? Would you feel loved and valued, or like a burden or a problem? Unfortunately, you may have a very hard time finding positive representations of autistic characters. How can we improve our collections? "

Chelsey goes on to explore questions that touch on the authenticity of the autistic characters, their diversity, stereotypes, the presence of autistic authors and more. She recommends books and authors as well. You can read her post here [In Search of Autistic Representation in Children's Literature. Roos, Chelsea. ALSC blog, May 16, 2022]

Another excellent resource on this subject is the ALSC Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder Resources toolkit developed by ALSC's Library Services to Underserved Children & Their Caregivers committee. This toolkit, originally published in August 2020, has been updated this month. It has booklists, resources, program suggestions, publishers and vendors. and much more to help you in developing and improving your service to children with autism and sensory processing disorders.