April is Autism Acceptance Month, and as an autistic person, and because I regularly get asked to recommend "books about autism", I'm hoping to share some of my favourite kids' books that may give some insight into what it's like to experience the world as an autistic person. I put it that way deliberately. Not all of the books I share will specifically be "about autism", and that's by design. As an autistic person (and like most developmentally disabled people), I have experienced a lot of exclusion and "othering" in my life, and I don't believe that is helped by books that "centre" or focus on autism or autistic characters from an outside perspective, or on the whole "they're odd but we should love them anyway" narrative. I feel like that does nothing to create understanding or teach commonality. That's why I love Samantha Cotterill's Little Senses series. An Own Voices author-illustrator, Sam writes from the perspective of the child eho is autistic and/or has a sensory processing disorder. But she also doesn't emphasise that so much as their lived experience, which is often something MANY children can relate to. In the case of "This Beach is Loud!" (2019), she uses a family outing as a framework to touch on issues of everything from physical discomfort over tactile unpleasantness (wet sand), to that parent-exhausting dichotomy: the child who is both overwhelmed by external noise, but cannot seem to regulate their own volume or constant stream of chatter. These are things that are particularly familiar to those who spend time with autistic kids, but honestly? Have you ever met a little kid who COULD totally self-regulate? A wonderful book for helping children see themselves in other kids, AND learn a little about how to deal with sensory overload. ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ #NoodlenutsKidsBooks #NoodlenutsAutism #ThisBeachIsLoud #LittleSenses #littlesensesbooks #samanthacotterill #AutismAcceptanceMonth #autismappreciation #redinstead #lightitupgold #autismawareness #Autism #ActuallyAutistic #autismawarenessmonth #autistickidsrock #autistictoddler #autismlove #autismmom #autismdad #spd #sensoryprocessingdisorder #spdawareness https://www.instagram.com/p/B-p1-2wHfgK/?igshid=12iuwacjktyji