A Book About Us, For Us, By Us
When I pick up a book about autism and ADHD, my first questions are: Who wrote this? Do they get it from the inside, or are they peering in from the outside? That matters—because lived experience changes everything about how you frame a struggle, a strength, or a survival skill.
The Neurodivergence Skills Workbook for Autism and ADHD passes that test instantly. Both authors, Jennifer Kemp and Monique Mitchelson, are neurodivergent themselves. And not in the vague “oh, I relate to some traits” way, but openly and specifically: they are Autistic, ADHD, and committed to working from a strengths-based, non-pathologizing lens. That shows in every page.
A Foreword That Sets the Tone
And then there’s the foreword by Sonny Jane Wise, whom I adore. Sonny—trans, multiply neurodivergent, Autistic, ADHD—writes with the kind of clarity and conviction that makes me nod along the whole way.
Sonny showed up as an advocate on the same wavelength as work I and others had already been doing, voicing truths we’ve long expressed, but in their own, eloquent, powerful voice I admire tremendously. Sonny’s uncompromising advocacy and apparently boundless energy are such a delight.
Having their words open this book was a joy. It’s like entering a room and the first voice you hear is already speaking your language. Sonny Jane Wise is an advocate I trust completely. By the time you reach the first chapter, you already feel held by people who get it.
Not Just Another Workbook
While there are a growing number of excellent workbooks being published, the market has been flooded with “workbooks” for neurodivergent people for a while. Far too many of these are warmed-over CBT checklists or generic productivity hacks written by people outside the community who slapped a rainbow cover on something to exploit a market niche. This book is SO very much NOT that.
Kemp and Mitchelson’s workbook isn’t a thoughtless re-brand or instructions for making you into a more tolerable version of yourself for neurotypical comfort. It’s about helping you know yourself more deeply, regulate without shaming yourself for struggling, and build skills that actually work for a nervous system like yours.
Why It Works for Emotional Regulation Struggles
As someone who lives in the messy, stormy, exhausting reality of emotional regulation challenges, I read this with a mix of curiosity and cautious optimism. What I found was a thoughtful, step-by-step approach that blends evidence-based strategies with lived-experience wisdom.
They talk about emotions not as “problems to fix” but as signals to understand. They normalize overwhelm. They teach skills in layers—starting where you are, without pressure to perform. And they do it without the infantilizing tone that so often creeps into resources aimed at autistic or ADHD adults.
A Few Highlights
Here are some of the aspects of this book that especially shine:
Interoception & Self-Check-Ins: Practical, compassionate exercises for learning to notice what’s going on inside your body before you tip into crisis.
Sensory Strategies That Aren’t One-Size-Fits-All: Acknowledging that what soothes one neurodivergent brain can overload another.
Scripts for Self-Advocacy: Not in the “just say this and everything will be fine” sense, but as adaptable frameworks to make self-expression easier under stress.
Why I’m Recommending It
I don’t recommend every book I read. Too many get the tone wrong, or the science shaky, or the audience wrong entirely. This one nails it—particularly for Autistic and ADHD people who wrestle with emotional regulation in a world that often treats our distress as a moral failing.
The fact that it’s written by therapists who are openly neurodivergent, with a foreword by Sonny Jane Wise, gives it a credibility and warmth that I want my readers to experience. It’s not just a workbook—it’s a conversation with people who know the terrain, who have walked it themselves, and who are willing to hand you the map they’ve drawn.
Final Takeaway
If you’ve been burned by self-help that left you feeling like the problem, this book will feel different. It treats your neurodivergence as a given, not a flaw. It offers skills without the side order of shame. And it does it all with the voice of people who speak our language.
This one’s going on my recommendation list, because it’s honest, useful, and written for us.
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