ADHD
Anxiety
Apps
Apps Introduction
Augmentative and Alternative Communication Apps
Leeloo – pre-set phrases you can use, such as ‘greetings’ and you can person
alise. It will read it out for you. (IMO – it looks very child friendly, cartoon characters for example).
S
poken – you choose a voice, lots to choose from with different accents. It is intuitive so the more you use it the better it is at predicting which words you’ll want next. Great for accessibility settings (word size, font etc).
Talk Card – has pre-made words and packs but also allows you to add your own – you can add/create a card picture using your own photos. You can also record your voice or someone else’s to go with your cards.
Speechify -If you struggle with reading, this app allows you to have all the information read aloud both
online and on paper documents. It is a paid app.
Health Apps
Suicide safety plan –This app allows you to create a safety plan which allow
s you to include contacts, reasons to live and coping strategies.
Calm Harm –This app focuses on combating self-harm. It is good for coping with difficult emotions.
Molehill Mountain – This app is developed especially for autistic people to help manage anxiety
through different skills.
Identifying Emotions Apps
How We Feel – The app is good for helping you identify your emotions, track them and has lots of free helpful videos you can watch. Once you select an emotion category the app will break the emotion down further to help you really work out how you feel.
Worry Dolls – This app is so sweet. For each worry you type in a worry doll keeps it safe. I find this a great
visual way to think through why I feel worried.
Bearable– allows you track your mood, symptoms, sleep, energy and more, all in one app.
Meditation Apps
Flowborne – I love Flowborne it is so clever! The app tells you when to inhale and exhale, and as you breathe
you go on a magical journey. The app would be great in a crisis as a distraction and way to control your breathing.
Organisation (Promoting independence) Apps
CacoonWever – Is an audio note talker app which helps you to connect your thoughts and translate them.
Medisafe –Is an an app that lets you track your medication and set reminders to take it.
Sweepy – Is an app that allows you track the cleanliness of all the rooms and keep on top of everything.
OWaves – Is a circular calendar which allows you to plan meals, exercise and sleep into your routine.
Routinery – This app allows you create set morning and evening routines with with visual reminders and timers.
Timmo – is a planner app that helps with routines through visual schedules and reminders.
Habitica – This app turns tasks into a game. It allows you to have an avatar and each time you
complete something on your task list, you level up.
Otter.ai – It allows you to take meeting notes automatically. It lets you record and transcribe meetings.
Tiny decision -If you struggle to make small simple decisions, this app can help you choose for example, what are you having for dinner.
Multi-Timer -This app allows you to run multiple timers at once, with each timer having a different colour.
Fabriq -This app is a relationship reminder and tracker app, which sends you reminders to reach out others.
Clue -This is a period tracker for those who menstruate. It allows you to log any symptoms you are experiencing.
Emma-Budget Planner -This app allows you to track your spending and expenses. It also allows you to set a budget and track paydays.
Google keep -Google keep allows you to add photos, notes, audio and lists with the ability to change the colour of notes and lists.
Sensory Apps
Lull – You need headphones for this app to work. As you hold your finger on the light source, the light grows,
beautiful music plays and the phone vibrates slightly. This app is a beautiful sensory experience and a real self-care tool for auties. It is stimmy gold in all its glory! [only available on Apple products, not Android currently – 16.06.22)
Dropophone – Dropophone is a wonderful app that lets you control repetitive sounds. I think it would be a
great comforting stim for a sensory meltdown. There are lots of ways you can customize how you use sound in this app. [only available on Apple products, not Android currently – 16.06.22)
Heat pad- This app has different sensory surfaces, from heat pads to glow pads for different sensory needs.
Anti-stress- A fidget toy app including fidget cubes, pop its and toothpaste to squeeze.
Fluid- This is an app full of mixing lights and colours, which you can move around the screen.
Time keeping Apps
Brain in hand- https://braininhand.co.uk/
Brain in Hand is a digital self-management support system for people who need help remembering th
ings, making decisions, planning, or managing anxiety. It’s not condition-specific, but is often used by people who are autistic or managing anxiety-related mental health challenges. Combining practical human support and digital self-management technology, Brain in Hand helps people live more independently.
Auditory Processing Disorder
Autism
Book Recommendations
Book Recommendations Introduction
ADHD
ADHD is our Superpower-Soli Lazarus
In this book you will meet different girls and boys with ADHD who can do a mazing things. You might
recognise some of these strengths as things that you can do too! Some of these strengths help with everyday life, like being able to hyper-focus on a task or having boundless energy to try new things. Some strengths are superpowers for interacting with others, like having a strong sense of what is fair or entertaining friends and family to make them feel happy.
Each character also shares things that you can ask grown-ups to do to help you, like providing visual aids, creating calm spaces, communicating effectively and being kind and patient.
This book also provides guidance for parents and teachers, with advice on how they can support children with suspected or diagnosed ADHD at home or in the classroom, and provides further resources and bonus content.
Delivered from distraction- Ned Hallowell and John Ratey
In this new book, Drs. Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey build on the breakthroughs of Driven to Distraction to offer a comprehensive and entirely up-to-date guide to living a successful life with ADD.
As Hallowell and Ratey point out, “attention deficit disorder” is a highly misleading description of an kind of mind. Original, Charismatic, energetic, often brilliant, people with ADD have extraordinary talents and gifts embedded in their highly charged but easily distracted minds. Tailored expressly to ADD learning styles and attention spans, Delivered from Distraction provided accessible, engaging discussions of every aspect of the condition, from diagnosis to finding the proper treatment regime.
Adolescence and puberty
The Autism friendly guide to periods- Robyn Steward
Written by autistic author Robyn Steward, this is a detailed guide for young people aged 9 to 16 on the basics of menstruation. Created in consultation with young people, an online survey and a group of medical
professionals, this is a book that teaches all people about periods, which can be a scary and overwhelming issue.
Promoting the fact that everyone either has periods or knows someone who does, the book reduces the anxiety girls face in asking for help. It offers direct advice on what periods look and feel like and how to manage hygiene and pain. It also breaks up information using flaps and step-by-step photos of how to change pads and tampons, it discusses alternatives to tampons and pads, and gives information about possible sensory issues for people with autism.
The growing up book for boys- Davida Hartman
The pre-teen and teenage years are a confusing time when bodies start acting with a will of their own,
friendships change and crushes start to develop. Using direct literal language and cool colour illustrations, this book tells boys all they need to know about growing hair in new places, shaving, wet dreams and unexpected erections. It’s full of great advice on what makes a real friend, how to keep spots away, and how to stay safe online. Most importantly, it explains that every body is amazing and unique and encourages young boys with autism to celebrate difference!
What’s happening to me- Usborne
This sensitive, informative guide to puberty for girls tackles everything from body image to mood swings, hormones and first bras. Bright, cartoon-style illustrations and scientific diagrams explain the physical and emotional changes of growing up in a simple and reassuring way, while the contents and index pages make key topics easy to find.
Autistic perspective
Autistics on Autism: Stories You Need to Hear About What Helped Them While Growing Up and Pursuing Their Dreams-Kerry Magro
The book’s editor, Dr. Kerry Magro Ed., is an award-winning professional speaker, author, autism
entertainment consultant and autistic self-advocate. Dr. Magro shares his journey from a nonspeaking child to getting accepted and succeeding in college and now as a professional speaker. Dr. Magro is also the founder of KFM Making a Difference. This nonprofit organization’s mission is to provide autistic individuals on the spectrum and their families support and encouragement by increasing awareness of disabled persons’ abilities, encouraged through scholarships, training, and education at all levels, and finding affordable housing for them in a safe and supported environment.
Autism in Adults, Autism and Asperger Syndrome in Childhood, Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Adults, Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Children- Collection of 4 books by Luke Beardon
Autism in Adults:
Dr Luke Beardon will help you to reframe what you feel, and challenge what you know, about being on the spectrum. He explains how autism impacts on the individual, and what purpose a diagnosis might – or might not – serve. There is a lot of myth-busting, and dismantling of the stereotypes and clichés around ASD and areas like communication, social interaction and relationships.
Autism and Asperger Syndrome in Childhood:
Dr Luke Beardon is a well-known expert in the field, and this book is an accessible, easy-to-read introduction for those encountering autism for the first time. Gently and honestly, it guides you through the issues you might encounter, busting the myths around autism and Asperger Syndrome, and explaining what the diagnosis
means for your child, for you, and for your wider family.
Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Adults:
Dr Luke Beardon has put together an optimistic, upbeat and readable guide that will be essential reading not just for any autistic adult, but for anyone who loves, lives with or works with an autistic person. Emphasising that autism is not behaviour, but at the same time acknowledging that there are risks of increased anxiety specific to autism.
Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Children:
Dr Luke Beardon has put together an optimistic, upbeat and readable guide that will be essential reading for any parent to an autistic child, whether they are of preschool age or teenagers. Emphasising that autism is not behaviour, but at the same time acknowledging that there are risks of increased anxiety specific to autism.
Different, Not Less-Chloe Hayden
Growing up, Chloé Hayden felt like she’d crash-landed on an alien planet where nothing made sense. Eye
contact? Small talk? And why are you people so touch-oriented? She moved between 10 schools in 8 years, struggling to become a person she believed society would accept, and was eventually diagnosed with autism and ADHD. When a life-changing group of allies showed her that different did not mean less, she learned to celebrate her true voice and find her happily ever after.
This is a moving, at times funny story of how it feels to be neurodivergent as well as a practical guide, with advice for living with meltdowns and shutdowns, tips for finding supportive communities and much more.
Explaining Humans- Camila Pang
Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of eight, Camilla Pang struggled to understand the world
around her and the way people worked. Desperate for a solution, Camilla asked her mother if there was an instruction manual for humans that she could consult. But, without the blueprint to life she was hoping for, Camilla began to create her own. Now armed with a PhD in biochemistry, Camilla dismantles our obscure social customs and identifies what it really means to be human using her unique expertise and a language she knows best: science.
Freaks, Geeks and Asperger Syndrome: A User Guide to Adolescence-Luke Jackson
Have you ever been called a freak or a geek? Have you ever felt like one? Luke Jackson is 13 years old and has Asperger Syndrome. Over the years Luke has learned to laugh at such names but there are other aspects of
life which are more difficult. Adolescence and the teenage years are a minefield of emotions, transitions and decisions and when a child has Asperger Syndrome, the result is often explosive. Luke has three sisters and one brother in various stages of their adolescent and teenage years but he is acutely aware of just how different he is and how little information is available for adolescents like himself. Drawing from his own experiences and gaining information from his teenage brother and sisters, he wrote this enlightening, honest and witty book in an attempt to address difficult topics such as bullying, friendships, when and how to tell others about AS, school problems, dating, relationships and morality. Luke writes briefly about his younger autistic and AD/HD brothers, providing amusing insights into the antics of his younger years and advice for parents, carers and teachers of younger AS children.
How to Be Autistic-Charlotte Amelia Poe
As we follow Charlotte’s journey through school and college, we become as awestruck by their extraordinary
passion for life as by the enormous privations that they must undergo to live it. From food and fandom, to body modification and comic conventions, Charlotte’s experiences through the torments of schooldays and young adulthood leave us with a riot of conflicting emotions: horror, empathy, despair, laugh-out-loud amusement and, most of all, respect. For Charlotte, autism is a fundamental aspect of their identity and art. They address their reader in a voice that is direct, sharply clever and ironic. They witness their own behaviour with a wry humour as they sympathise with those who care for them, yet all the while challenging the neurotypical narratives of autism as something to be ‘fixed’.
The reason I jump- David Mitchell
This ground breaking book, written by Naoki Higashida when he was only thirteen, provides some answers. Severely autistic and non-verbal, Naoki learnt to communicate by using a ‘cardboard keyboard’ – and what he
has to say gives a rare insight into an autistically-wired mind. He explains behaviour he’s aware can be baffling such as why he likes to jump and why some people with autism dislike being touched; he describes how he perceives and navigates the world, sharing his thoughts and feelings about time, life, beauty and nature; and he offers an unforgettable short story. Proving that people with autism do not lack imagination, humour or empathy, THE REASON I JUMP made a major impact on its publication in English. Widely praised, it was an immediate No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller as well as a New York
My Awesome Autism-Nikki Saunders
A sweet book to help empower children and to highlight just how brilliant they are for being themselves! Eddie
shows that we are all different, unique, have many strengths, talents and reminds children they are loved and valued. Eddie says, be proud of who you are, aiming for every child to feel a little ‘lift’ from this book! Eddie is autistic, he shares how he navigates his environments and teaches his readers in a cheerful way! Eddie helps all children learn about their autism diagnosis and how “we are all different!” Whether your child receives their diagnosis at toddler age or much later, this wonderful educational tool suits all. It can be an overwhelming time for parents and carers to know when to start to explain to their child, about their autism diagnosis. During this time parents, carers and therapists look for the best way to deliver understanding along with love, supporting needs and reassurance.
Mistakes are cool-Nikki Saunders
Eddie was having a hard time realising that it’s okay to make mistakes. Eddie shows children alternative ways
of positive thinking, teaching his readers that by making mistakes, it means we are learning. Eddie tries to find the COOL (solution) after making a mistake! We all make mistakes at different times. This book benefits all children and especially those with Special Educational Needs. Autism.
Odd Girl Out: An Autistic Woman in a Neurotypical World- Laura James
Laura James found out that she was autistic as an adult, after she had forged a career for herself, married
twice and raised four children. This book tracks the year of Laura’s life after she receives a definitive diagnosis from her doctor, as she learns that ‘different’ doesn’t need to mean ‘less’ and how there is a place for all of us, and it’s never too late to find it.
Laura draws on her professional and personal experiences and reflects on her life in the light of her diagnosis, which for her explains some of her differences; why, as a child, she felt happier spinning in circles than standing still and why she has always found it difficult to work in places with a lot of ambient noise.
Sex, Drugs and Asperger’s Syndrome (ASD): A User Guide to Adulthood- Luke Jackson
Luke Jackson’s unabridged and sparkling sequel to his best-selling user guide to adolescence Freaks, Geeks and Asperger Syndrome is the must-read handbook for teenagers and young adults on the autism spectrum. With devastating clarity, Luke focuses on the pitfalls involved in navigating the transition to adulthood, and the challenges of adult life. He covers everything from bullying and drugs to socialising, sex, negotiating relationships, and finding and keeping your first job.
You are awesome: find confidence and dare to brilliant at almost anything-Matthew Syed
You Are Awesome can help you do just that, inspiring and empowering young readers to find the confidence to realise their potential. The first children’s book from Times journalist, two-time Olympian and best-selling mindset author Matthew Syed, it uses examples of successful people from Mozart to Serena Williams to demonstrate that success really is earned rather than given, and that talent can be acquired. With hard work and determination, practice and self-belief, and, most importantly, a Growth Mindset, there’s no reason why anyone can’t achieve anything.
What I Want to Talk About: How Autistic Special Interests Shape a Life-Peter Wharmby
What I Want to Talk About popular autism advocate Pete Wharmby takes readers on a journey through his special interests, illuminating the challenges of autistic experience along the way. Funny, revealing, celebratory and powerful in equal measure, this is a book that will resonate with many, and which should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand autism with more accuracy and empathy.
Emotional regulation/Exploring feelings
Eddies colourful feelings-Nikki Saunders
A fantastic resource to help children develop emotional literacy and use strategies to help with
self regulation. From anger to feeling clam, Eddie is an autistic character who imagines that his emotions are like the colours of the rainbow! When Eddie’s rainbow glows a certain colour, this visually reminds Eddie of what emotion he is feeling and the strategies he can use to help him. This book includes comic strip conversations, colouring pages and helpful information and tips inside. This book can widely benefit many children and open up conversations with their trusted adult.
The Autism Discussion Page-Bill Nason
Anxiety, meltdowns and emotional regulation can be hugely challenging for autistic people. This book is full of proactive strategies for understanding, accepting and respecting the processing differences in autism. It contains tools for reducing sensory, social and mental drain, and offers strategies to protect from ongoing stress and anxiety. These help minimize shutdowns and burnout, while maximizing self-esteem, autistic identity and mental health.
The Colour Monster-Anna Llenas
A picture book follow-up to The Colour Monster, Anna Llenas’s jaw-dropping pop-up book.
One day, Colour Monster wakes up feeling very confused. His emotions are all over the place; he feels angry, happy, calm, sad and scared all at once! To help him, a little girl shows thim what each feeling means through colour.
Change and Transitions
Dyslexia
Eating
Emotional Regulation
Epilepsy & Autism
Executive Function
Gender Dysphoria
Girls
Home Education
Independence
Introduction to Neurodivergence
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Online Safety
Online Safety Introduction
Be Internet Legends – This is a great activity for your child to become internet safety aware, very child friendly.
CEOP Education – Fantastic resource full of information for both parents and age appropriate information and guides for children.
UK Safer Internet – Parent/carer guides and resources for children and young persons.
PDA
PDA Introduction
Post Diagnosis Support
School (Includes EHCP, Exams, Homework, Reading, Accessibility)
School Attendance
Self Harm
Sensory & OT
Siblings
Sleep
Social Emotional / Mental Health
Social Emotional / Mental Health Introduction
Teenage Mental Health – this is a paid service.
The Source – Wellbeing/Mind Support Line: 080 8802 0288 Monday to Friday, 4pm to 12 midnight, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 12 midnight.
Social Stories
Speech & Communication
Stimming
Teens and Puberty
Theory of Mind
Tics & Tourette’s Disorder
Toileting
Visual Impairment
Additional Resources
Additional Resources
SEN Resources for Autism, ADHD, SEMH, EHC, Speech – The Witherslack Group has so many amazing webinars/podcasts/resources on ADHD and Autism.
For related services:
Neurodevelopmental Support Services for West Suffolk and Norfolk & Waveney
West Suffolk NDD Support Service
Norfolk & Waveney ASD/ADHD Support Service
