A great resource for autistic trans folx, as well as their allies! There's a lot of great content, supportive material, and guides for how to navigate the intersections of neurodivergence and trans identity.

let's get something out of the way. Would this book have helped me when I was younger and struggling with who I were? Yes. I would have been able to pull hope and reassurance from this, an explanation of why everything seemed wrong in a time i could not accept myself. However, it would also have confused me. Remembering myself as the confused child I was, a lot of the terms here would have left me only more confused. I would have needed more explanation, apart from just statements, and I feel like that may be this books downfall.
It does not seem to know what it wants to be, a beacon of explanation and information? If that is the case, I would have loved to see the authors dive into that more, truly explain what is going on, but that leaves wanting. Does it want to be a self help book? it gives exercises and thoughts that could indicate this, but it never commits to this either. it is possible to combine these two concepts, but not in a book as short as this.

I don't want to rag on this book too much because it clearly tries hard to cover its grounds, and it does a decent job, but something else I want to bring up is that it falls into some traps that books written by adults for bullied/critisised youths tend to fall in. The examples it gives are fine, but if this was me, an autistic person to booth, would try to follow the advice on what to say when someone is disrespectful, the examples given would leave me with a massive "now what" situation, that I would not have been equipped to deal with at the time (and would still struggle to, to be honest!).

Regardless of this, I think this is the kind of book any library ought to have. A resource for those struggling to find their footing in the world. It plays that job well, and this is something we desperately need more off. I commend this book for that, and will recommend it too.

I think it’s great that this book exists, it’s such a specific set of diagnoses to have but so many people out there need this. It provides so much useful information to those vulnerable people who want to understand more about themselves and how to live the best version of themselves. It’s also so useful for any family members or friends who want to understand their loved one but aren’t too sure on where to find useful and accurate pieces of advice. more books like this need to be created so that help gets given to the right people when it’s needed, super informative read and great that it exists. thanks for providing me with the chance to read this, it was insightful.

I read The Awesome Autistic Guide for Trans Teens by @yennpurkis & Sam Rose on #NetGalley & will be putting it on my next order for school. Brilliantly straightforward & readable, published by @JKPBooks https://t.co/iXRF1EUjL1

As an autistic adult who considers themself to be gender-neutral, I was happy to get my hands on a copy of this book to review.

'The Awesome Autistic Guide for Trans Teens' is a decent educational book that more or less does what it says on the can. The authors cover topics such as gender diversity, identities, coming out and the challenges surrounding being trans for a younger audience - and do so fairly well.

However, it does have some pros and cons.

The book comes from the perspective of two trans autistic writers so they know what they're talking about.
Yet we don't hear about their own experiences at all and the book comes across as very impersonal and reads like the leaflets you'd find in your guidance counsellor's room. Some anecdotes from them or other trans autistics could have helped in giving examples to scenarios and giving a sense of connection to the reader.

A bit of a bugbear for me was the thin line between what was actual scientific facts and what was subjective, especially when much of the writing was presented as factual with no sources to back it up.

One instance early on is a list of autistic characteristics. Some of these are traits that are used in the diagnostic criteria for autism and are pretty well known (meltdown/shutdowns, heightened sensory experiences, special interests, struggling to read facial expressions). But there were others on the list which have no real connection to autism and depends on the person (creative, honest, love for animal, more likely to be trans or gender divergent). Again, no sources.

Overall, the book would be a good starting point for a young autistic teen (possibly pre-teen) who is starting to question their gender identity and using it as a stepping stone towards more in-depth books on the same topic.

The information in here is really good and educational, but…

When you’re an autistic queer teenager (like me) who already knows everything before reading this book, or an (cis/hetero/NT) adult trying to grasp onto this new feminist wave, or even a child, the information may be objectively good but you won’t be able to use it.


Pros:
The two writers are both autistic and trans I was able to let my guard down and trust them on the information they gave, which I agreed with in the end. But it really doesn’t go very far in depth.

Cons:
The main problem I had with this book is that it’s just too hard and too easy at the same time. It treats the reader like a child, but then proceeds to explain pretty hard terms (if you come from a community/background with a lot of internalized discrimination) with other terms that are hard to grasp.

Example:
Saying “Gender is socially constructed” is not enough of an explanation and not one I expected to be handled so nonchalantly, since I find most people struggle with this one.

If I were still an unknowing, ignorant child I would have ended up with even more questions after that explanation.

Of course today-year-old me knows what this particular sentence means in practice, but I don’t think many other readers will.

In conclusion: the information is good and honest, but the way of delivery is questionable and not fully on the level of children, teenagers or adults, but rather a mix of them which makes it hard to read for all.

A good start for those who need the information, but at times, it feels closer to a pamphlet than a book. Still bound to do a lot of good for its target audience.

As an autistic nonbinary person, I was excited to read this and see if it contained some of the advice and support I might have wanted as a teenager. The information is quite basic, to me as an adult, but I understand I am not the exact target audience. I would appreciate there being a bit more nuance in a book that is targetting vulnerable, young people - especially around topics like coming out. You do not owe anyone that information and for lots of trans and disabled youth, it is not safe, and coming out is not an end goal that you have failed if you cannot reach. I wish this was discussed more. I think it is unsafe not to. Also, perhaps a few more anecdotes and life experiences from the authors/other trans autistic people would have been nice. Overall, I'm glad books like this are starting to exist and I hope we can continue to provide better resources for young queer and disabled people.

As a secondary school teacher, I always like to read books like this. It allows me to support my pupils if and when issues like this would arise.

This book is really well done. Firstly, I didn't know until reading this book that people on the autistic spectrum are 7 times more likely to be trans or gender divergent. I never knew that, and think its a fascinating statistic, and makes this book incredibly important!

I also feel like this book would be useful to any young person experiencing confusion over their gender identity. Of course there are specific chapters that focus on autism and gender specifically, but I do think a lot of young people will get a lot from it.

I really like how the book has some journalling prompts, and the helpful responses are brilliant. Specific scripted responses are super useful, and can really imagine some of my autistic pupils finding this a real life saver.

This book should be in all school libraries!!

The awesome autistic is two peoples take on autism and gender identity. The novel packs a punch and gives you a lot of knowledge, but also integrates the human impact and experience of being trans and autistic.

I like the language used, how it explains the terminology effectively without the language being overly complex. I enjoyed reading about queer, gender divergent famous people, as it gives pupils idols that they can look up to, that they can also relate too.

Because this is a book targeted at young people who are trans and autistic, throughout the novel it emphasised lots of  posivity surrounding autism and gender diversity which I really enjoyed seeing.

This book is really informative, but it isn't boring. However, I only rate this book 3.5 stars because although I enjoyed it, and leant a lot from it. I found this book a bit painstaking and although it's useful for beginners who want to learn about the LGBTQIA+ community as well as about people with autism. I already knew quite a lot of the information discussed within the book, and therefore didn't engage with it as greatly.

The Awesome Autistic Guide for Trans Teens. And the title really tells it as it is. It covers definitions for words such as “transgender” and “demiboy.” It gives advice for situations, such as responses for questions people may ask about your identity. It even gives an example script for coming out.

Both authors are autistic and not cis. It’s such a great resource that I look forward to having for youth who are interested.

This book was good!

As a trans and possibly neurodivergent teen I love seeing more content and media catered towards me. For younger teens, this book would be amazing! I wished I had this sort of information when I was younger!

I feel this book did a great job at breaking down certain stigmas and stereotypes based around autism and being trans. The book was super easy to digest and understand! This is an amazing book for anyone new to learning about themselves!

However, if often felt like the same information was being relayed over and over. Knowing that there are resources available is important but I felt like it was mentioned way too much. Some of the points made in the book seemed like the same basic and recycled points you could find with one google search.

The book felt almost disconnect from reality. I think it would benefit from more anecdotes from the authors and less rigid scientific elements. This would've made it more interesting and intriguing to readers.

(This review will eventually be posted to Goodreads and StoryGraph!)

I was unfortunately very dissapointed in this book. I had expected and hoped it would look a bit at the unique struggles of autistic trans people, but those were barely in the book at all. It mostly looked at trans identities with a few brief comments relating it to autistic trans people and a few sections on autism. I didn’t really see the added value of this “autistic” guide compared to a general guide for trans teens

I also really missed sources. I understand that this is a YA book and therefore shouldn’t have the same level of sources as for example academic texts, but there were a few points where I wondered where they got their information from to the point I questioned wether the information was correct. Their statistic of the likeliness of trans identity for autistic people was for example way higher then sources I’ve read. The list of characteristics of autistic people also seemed a combination of autism criteria, things backed up by academic research, and things based on anecdotal evidence. Anecdotal evidence can still be helpful, but it shouldn’t be hold to the same regard as academic research.

I also don’t know how helpful some of the advice is and I really missed some comments about safety. The book encourages coming out without acknowledging that it sometimes isn’t safe to do so. The advice for what to do against bullying seemed to boil down to talk to a trusted adult, but in my experience most adults still wouldn’t know how to actually do anything against the bullying even if they are really supportive and not everyone has access to supportive adults