The Autism Ambassadors Handbook: Peer Support for Developing Soc and Academic Skills
Kukoff
2013
Submitter: This terribly ableist book is in the library of the university I graduated from. When I discovered it as an autistic student, I was livid. The author, an 18-year-old boy who is being treated as an expert despite his lack of qualifications, describes autistic people in the most alienating way possible (he actually says we sound as if we just stepped off a spaceship). He doesn’t consider that if a child screams or covers her ears, maybe she is hurt or scared by a loud noise. To him, this behavior is just evidence that she is socially oblivious. The author clearly hasn’t talked to many autistic adults. If he had, he’d know that we do NOT want to be “indistinguishable from our peers”, that stimming has an important purpose, and that autistic people want real friends, not assigned “friends” for whom we are a special school project.
Holly: This book actually got pretty good reviews on Amazon and GoodReads, but if someone experiencing autism is put off by it, that is a valid review too. I didn’t see any reviews from professional organizations or other authorities outside of Amazon and GoodReads (where literally anyone can review anything).
Awful Library Books 