When Naoki Higashida, a 13-year-old boy with autism, was asked whether he wanted to be “normal”, he had a very beautiful response:

“To give the short version, I’ve learned that every human being, with or without disabilities, needs to strive to do their best, and by striving for happiness you will arrive at happiness. For us, you see, having autism is normal – so we can’t know for sure what your ‘normal’ is even like. But so long as we can learn to love ourselves, I’m not sure how much it matters whether we’re normal or autistic.”

— Naoki Higashida, The Reason I Jump

As a neurodiversity-affirming therapist, I’ve gathered some of my go-to writers, courses, websites, and tools – resources that honour diverse minds, foster self-understanding, and embrace the many ways people learn, connect, and grow.