This is a workbook for parents and caregivers of young, autistic children (especially those recently diagnosed or even suspected). The purpose of the book isn't to tell you answers, but to help you reflect and explore. The approach is one of curiosity, openness, and a willingness to fully acknowledge and accept the very real humans we live with, our children (and maybe ourselves, too!). It is about choosing to parent from a place of welcome, acceptance, and celebration of our children's (and our own) differences, especially for those of us who are neurodivergent. In this exploration, this trial and error from a place of openness and curiosity and humility and acceptance, you will find some of the answers for how to best support your children. My goal with this workbook is not to help you change your child, to make them better fit into a neurotypical model for how to do life. My goal is to help you learn to recognize your child's needs, joys, strengths, challenges, uniqueness, and to help them learn to thrive as the neurodivergent human they are. You will find within each chapter both information and reflective exercises to help you recognize and apply that information to your specific situation, child, and family.

It is my hope that this workbook can be part of a counter-narrative to the doom-and-gloom offered families of newly diagnosed children: Our children are not broken, deficient, or inept. They are different. Will that difference bring about challenges? Yes, but not because something is wrong with our children. These challenges arise because our society was not created with those differences in mind. Are those differences bad or something to be changed? No, absolutely not. In fact, we cannot change the way our neurodivergent children's brains experience the world. What we can do is create the most supportive environment possible, teach our children to recognize and advocate for their needs (even and especially where those needs may be different from the majority), and give them every chance of learning to not only exist but thrive as their wonderfully neurodivergent selves.