Autistic Doctors International
A neurodiversity-affirmative community for autistic medical doctors and medical students — peer support, advocacy, research, and education.
Neurodiversity
Neurodiversity in the Workplace
Optimizing education, training, work environments, and patient care so that neurodivergent practitioners and patients thrive. A growing shelf of communities, free guides, and books, collected as I learn. Book links go to the publisher or to Amazon; Amazon links are affiliate links.
“Everything comes down to what environment you’re in. And so we just need to make the environment more suitable for everybody, and then we’ll all be in a better place.”
Communities
People and places to begin
Dr. Kara Pepper — YouTube
Dr. Kara Pepper’s channel, shared with me as a clinician resource alongside ADI.
Mindful Living, LLC (Dr. Rabia Subhani)
Adult autism/ADHD assessment, mindfulness teaching for families with neurodivergent children, and neuro-affirming practice resources. Dr. Subhani’s Resources for Autistic/ADHD Individuals list (updated December 2024) is the source of the free course below. That list isn’t posted publicly; her Resources page offers it by email.
Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network (AWN)
Advocacy and resource library, including the autistic burnout guide linked below.
Guides
Read freely
What is Autistic Burnout? (AWN)
A short guide from the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network on signs, causes, and strategies — linked from AWN rather than re-hosted here.
Autism in Adulthood (journal)
Peer-reviewed journal focused on adults on the autism spectrum, from emerging adulthood through later life (Sage, formerly Mary Ann Liebert).
Autistic SPACE: a novel framework for meeting the needs of autistic people in healthcare settings
Doherty M, McCowan S, Shaw SCK. Br J Hosp Med. 2023;84(4):1-9.
Books
Amazon links
These titles were among materials a colleague shared with me.
- Mitzi Waltz, Autism: A Social and Medical History (2nd ed., Springer)
- Emily L. Casanova & Manuel Casanova, Defining Autism: A Guide to Brain, Biology, and Behavior (Jessica Kingsley)
- Scott D. Wright (ed.), Autism Spectrum Disorder in Mid and Later Life (Jessica Kingsley)
- Susan Lowinger & Shiri Pearlman-Avnion (eds.), Autism in Adulthood (Springer)
- Donna Henderson, Sarah Wayland & Jamell White, Is This Autism? A Guide for Clinicians and Everyone Else (Routledge)
[Heather: The Nosanov attachment Clinical-Care-Guide-First-Edition-2025.pdf is the Bateman Horne Center guide to ME/CFS, Long COVID, and IACCs — not an autism clinical guide. I left it off this page. Want it linked under Mental Health or chronic illness instead, or omitted?]
Start here
A free, self-paced course
From the Mindful Living curated list: a free neuro-affirming course that is also useful for loved ones — Autism Essentials (Reframing Autism).
This shelf will grow. If a community or book has made a difference for you, I’d love to hear about it via the connect form.
[Heather: Proposed credit line — not on the page until you approve: “With thanks to Dr. Lauren Nosanov for sharing several of these starting points.” OK to add, reword, or skip?]