The Spectrum Girl's Survival Guide: How to Grow Up Awesome and Autistic
Siena Castellon BCyA | Founder Neurodiversity Celebration Week | The Author
Siena Castellon is a 17-year-old internationally recognised and multi-award-winning autism advocate and anti-bullying campaigner who is on the autism spectrum. She has won a BBC Radio 1 Teen Hero Award, Observer New Radical Award and the British Citizen Youth Award and is affiliated with the UCL Centre for Research in Autism and Education. She lives in London with her parents and her pet dog Rico.
She is currently trying to raise £2,000.00 to buy a copy of The Spectrum Girl’s Survival Guide: How to Grow Up Awesome and Autistic for every girls’ state school in the UK.
We are helping to raise awareness and get as much support for this truly inspirational young lady who is the founder of Neurodiversity Celebration Week.
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Siena Castellon | The Story
Schools are currently significantly underfunded. Autistic students are especially affected by the drastic cuts to education and the lack of appropriate SEND support and training. Unfortunately, autistic girls continue to fly under the radar and few resources exist that are specifically aimed at supporting autistic girls.
Many autistic girls feel isolated and alone, and may struggle to come to terms with their diagnosis. My guide aims to help autistic girls to improve their understanding of themselves and their autism, and to empower them to see themselves in a positive light. I encourage autistic girls to embrace who they are and remind them that even during their toughest teen moments, they are never alone.
I wrote The Spectrum Girl’s Survival Guide: How to Grow Up Awesome and Autistic, because the existing books were aimed at autistic boys and/or were written by adults. The guide provides advice on issues that are unique to autistic girls, such as identifying and understanding our emotions, interpreting body language, coping with anxiety and sensory overload, surviving school and bullying, managing sensory issues that can affect our hygiene and appearance, and much more. The guide contains the type of practical information, tips and advice that I wish I could have benefitted from when I was growing up.
I am raising money to give a copy of The Spectrum Girl’s Survival Guide: How to Grow Up Awesome and Autistic to the SENCO at every girls’ state school in the United Kingdom. I am waiving my 30% royalty and Jessica Kingsley Publishing is providing a further 10% discount. As a result, each book will cost £8, plus packaging and shipping.
Anything you can contribute is welcome.
The Spectrum Girl’s Survival Guide
“Never be ashamed of being different: it is this difference that makes you extraordinary and unique.”
This essential go-to guide gives you all the advice and tools you’ll need to help you flourish and achieve what you want in life. From the answers to everyday questions such as ‘Am I using appropriate body language?’ and ‘Did I say the wrong thing?’, through to discussing the importance of understanding your emotions, looking after your physical and mental health and coping with anxiety and sensory overloads, award-winning neurodiversity campaigner Siena Castellon uses her own experiences to provide you with the skills to overcome any challenge.
With practical tips on friendships, dating, body image, consent and appearance, as well as how to survive school and bullying, The Spectrum Girl’s Survival Guide gives you the power to embrace who you are, reminding you that even during the toughest of teen moments, you are never alone.