3 Books to Help You Talk to Your Child About their Autism Diagnosis

Need help explaining an autism diagnosis to your child? These books will help you start the conversation and help you talk to your child about their autism diagnosis.

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There are many reasons why you need to tell your autistic child about their autism diagnosis. 

And there are tons of great resources to help you explain autism to kids.

But with so much information out there on this topic, it can be a bit overwhelming to wade through it all. 

You also worry about getting it right. Hint: don't stress about getting it right or perfect. Instead, just aim to start the conversation and create a dialogue with your child.

So to help you get the conversation started with your autistic child, I'm sharing my 3 must-have books when it comes to explaining an autism diagnosis to a child: one for you as a parent, one to share with kids of all ages, and one dedicated to teens and tweens. 

As an added bonus, these books are short. They're around 100 pages or less, meaning you could easily read them in an afternoon and have more time to get that conversation going.

3 Must-Have Books to Help You Talk to Your Child About their Autism Diagnosis

1. The Little Book of Autism FAQs: How to Talk with Your Child About their Diagnosis & Other Conversations

By Davida Hartman

If you're unsure of where to start, then a good starting point would be this little book. This book was surprisingly good (I'm always so hesitant about autism books I stumble upon randomly at the library). 

It's only 100ish pages and can be read in an afternoon. It has lots of tips and suggestions on why you need to tell your child, when to tell them, and how to actually go about doing it. It will basically help inspire you to start the conversation with your child.

2. Just Right for You: A Story About Autism

By Melanie Heyworth & illustrated by CeART (I am Cadence)

Regardless of how old your child is, this book is absolutely wonderful to share with them. I seriously cried when reading this book for the first time and think it's a perfect book for introducing your child's diagnosis with them.

This book is written and illustrated by autistic people, which I love. 

Just Right for You is also now available in Spanish!

3. The Awesome Autistic Go-To Guide: A Practical Handbook for Autistic Teens and Tweens

By Yenn Purkis and Tanya Masterman

Written by autistics for autistics, this book is excellent for explaining an autism diagnosis to your tween or teen. 

It is short (only 108 pages) and includes lots of workbook-style pages for your teen to fill in, helping them better understand their autism diagnosis and sensory needs. You could read it together or let them read through it at their own pace. 

Other Autism Resources You'll Love

8 Reasons You Should Tell Your Child that They're Autistic

Tips for How to Tell Your Child that They're Autistic

Resources for Explaining Autism to Kids

The Best Parenting Books to Help You Raise Resilient and Confident Kids

Parenting books you should definitely read.

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I'll be the first to admit that I don't enjoy reading parenting books, especially when there's no one right way to raise kids.

Besides, I find a lot of parenting books don't seem to apply well to me since I'm raising neurodiverse children.

However, I have found quite a few parenting books over the years that have resonated with me, which I will share below.

These books have provided me with lots of practical tips, helpful suggestions, and effective strategies for topics such as discipline, self-esteem, resilience, self-regulation, and more. They are books that have armed me with strategies to help my son with meltdowns and helped me not butt heads with my youngest on a constant basis.

I simply take what works from each book and skip the stuff that doesn't seem to work for us and I suggest you do the same.

So let's dive into this list of my favorite books about parenting.

About this List of Parenting Books

Below you will find some of my absolute favorite books about parenting. Here are a few things you need to know about this list of parenting books:

• Some of the suggestions aren't technically parenting books per se, but they are worth mentioning because I believe they cover topics that are extremely relevant to raising children.

• I have actually read every single book on this list myself. That means I am only recommending books that I have truly found helpful myself.

• I will add new books to this list as I find and discover new favorites.

• This list of books is specific to general parenting. If you are looking for books dedicated to parenting autistic children or hyperlexic children, then check out these lists instead: autism parenting books, books about hyperlexia, books about anxiety for parents, or books about sensory processing disorder.

Parenting Books You Should Definitely Read

1. The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children

By Ross W. Greene

While I'm personally not a huge fan of the title of this book, the content, however, is awesome. His approach is respectful of the child and gives you a great overview of how to implement collaborative problem solving with your kids. It's a really great book!

2. Kid Confidence: Help Your Child Make Friends, Build Resilience, and Develop Real Self-Esteem

By Eileen Kennedy-Moore

This book is the only parenting book I've ever binge read. That means, it isn't boring and dry like most parenting books. I found it rather engaging and well-written. It's also research backed, which I love. The layout is nice and digestible, meaning the sections are small and readable, making it manageable for even the busiest of parents to read it. Finally, the tips are practical and so good. I absolutely loved this book and plan to reread it again.

3. Raising Your Spirited Child

By Mary Sheedy Kurcinka

This book was probably one of the first parenting books I ever read. It's also the only parenting book I've reread to date - ha! I think the title could have ditched the "spirited" part though as the information in this book can be applied to any child, spirited or not. Even my husband enjoyed this book and quoted from it for days after finishing it.

4. No-Drama Discipline: The Whole-Brain Way to Calm the Chaos and Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind

By Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson

This book is full of wonderful peaceful and mindful strategies for disciplining your children. It has lots of excellent advice. I did find it excessively wordy though, but still a great book to pick up on the topic of discipline.

5. Raising Freakishly Well-Behaved Kids: 20 Principles for Becoming the Parent Your Child Needs

By Jodi Ann Mullen

I found this book on the hoopla app and thought it sounded interesting so I decided to give it a whirl. While I had never heard of this particular book or author before, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought the advice and strategies in it were excellent and spot-on. It offers up 20 simple principles and it's a quick, easy read. I love when I stumble on a surprisingly good book!

6. The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting: Raising Children with Courage, Compassion, and Connection

By Brene Brown

This audiobook isn't too long. It honestly seems more like a TED talk or personal discussion with a friend more so than a book. I found it really good. Lots of good takeaways.

7. Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success

By Carol S. Dweck

Okay, obviously this book isn't a parenting book per se, but I do think it is an important topic for parents to read about. While the book is a bit repetitive and can be tedious to get through (I suggest going the audiobook route!), it illustrates the difference between having a growth mindset and having a fixed mindset.

8. In Other Words: Phrases for Growth Mindset

By Annie Brock

Speaking of mindset, this book was hidden gem. I really enjoyed it. Yes the title is geared towards teachers instead of parents, but I think the advice and strategies inside are helpful. I remember binge reading this book, which as I mentioned above, doesn't happen much with parenting books. She also has other growth mindset books such as The Growth Mindset Coach, but I haven't read any of her other books yet.

9. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

By Angela Duckworth

This book isn't obviously about parenting per se, but teaching your kids how to be gritty and persevere, even with things get hard, is an incredibly important topic. The book can be a bit repetitive and features a lot of anecdotes (I prefer actual research and science), but overall, I still think it's a good read for parents.

10. The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind

By Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson

This book has some awesome mindfulness strategies in it and lots of helpful advice, but it's excessively wordy and a bit tedious to get through at times (that could just be how all parenting books feel to me though too!). Some of the ideas and concepts felt a bit off and outdated to me too. I wasn't wowed by this book or anything, but, overall, it's an interesting read. It's just not my favorite parenting book of the bunch I've listed here. But, like I said, it's got some great strategies in it.

Other Resources You'll Love

The Best Books About Anxiety for Parents

Parenting Resources by Diagnosis

Autism Parenting Books