In this email:

1. Ebooks are here!
2. ND-positive kids summer camps ebook
3. Next free workshop
4. 3 Latest Videos
5. Recent popular Tweet
6. Feature article: Step One In Figuring Out What You Want

Hi Reader,

Do you remember back in December, when I announced it instead of raising my prices, that I would be shifting my focus to creating e-books and courses?

That this is a win-win, because more people would be able to get highly concentrated info from me on topics that come up over and over for those of us who figure out later in life that we are autistic, at a price point that is much more doable for many people, and still provide me with the extra income I need?

Well, I've been working on that, and my first eBook is ready!

And three more are in the works.

This first one is a highly specialized topic, on picking out Autistic-friendly and neurodivergent- affirming summer camps (or really, any kind of programming, activities, providers, etc.).

​Autism-Friendly Camps Guide: How To Pick Neurodivergent-Affirming Camps Your Kid Will Love

The next three coming up are:

(Click its name if you want to get notified when that one comes out.)

• ​So You Want To Be An Autism Coach​: Answers to the most common questions I get about becoming an autism coach
• ​Life Reflections: Processing your life now that you've figured out you're Autistic
• ​Adjusted Full Time Hours: How to calculate your own optimized AFT

There are all on a new page on my website: eBooks (aptly named).

I'm excited that this is finally happening, not just something I'm planning and working toward. And there will be many more coming, over time, as I have the capacity.

By the way, this is the result of a lot of hard work that started with figuring out what I really wanted. And then how to make that happen. What I really wanted was a business model that worked for my capacity and helped more people, at prices that we could all (well, most of us) feel good about.

The article below is about the starting stages of this. About the very first step in figuring out what it is you want. Which society claims should be straightforward, but is not for most of us.

So what do you really want?

Wishing you a neurowonderful day,
Heather

P.S. There's still a couple weeks before I go on vacation. I'm taking off time to rest and restore and come back energized: the last week of March and the first two weeks of April.

Autism-Friendly Camps Guide

How To Pick Neurodivergent-Affirming Camps Your Kid Will Love

Two months ago, a mom of an Autistic teen I care about asked me to look at some summer camps for her, and tell her which would be affirming for her kid.

I realized that it would be useful for her to know how I'm searching, and what I'm looking for, not just whether a particular camp looked good to me or not.

So I started paying attention to just that: what criteria I'm looking at to reject, screen out, or get excited by, different camps.

Hence, an ebook was born.

But this isn't just for summer camps. The principles here apply to any and every kind of activity, after school program, treatment group, therapeutic provider, caretaker for hire, event, group, etc.

In fact, I've been using these principles for several years to pick out groups that I want to be a part of, and people I want to work with.

It's really about how to tell if someone or some group is actually accepting or if they just say that they are.

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Next Free Public Workshop

What to Expect in the Later Identified Autism Journey

Are you figuring out as an adult that you’re Autistic, not broken, weird (in a bad way), or wrong after all?

Are you working on figuring out what that means for your future, and reframing your past with this new info?

Are you feeling lost and found, happy and angry, confused and clear, questioning and hopeful?

And wondering a lot what to do next, what comes next in the process, and how to make this new understanding of yourself benefit you and hopefully make things better?

That’s what we’re going to be talking about in this workshop.

Based on my own experience and having accompanied dozens of others through the process, here’s an overview of what to expect and some practical tips for each phase of the unfolding Journey.

Tuesday, May 14th
12 PM PT - 3 PM ET - 8 PM BST

3 Latest Videos

Links to transcripts are in the video descriptions.
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​If you don’t like journaling, you’re not wrong​

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​Self-regulation strategies are unique​

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​On The Overwhelm of Becoming Who I Will Be​

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Recent Popular Tweet​
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Heather Cook 🦓🖖Autistic Life Coach @hmm_cook There is no such thing as oversensitive. If something hurts you, it is irrelevant whether anyone else thinks it should have or not. #ActuallyAutistic #MentalHealth #HighlySensitive 8:16 AM • Mar 2, 2024 7 Retweets 38 Likes

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Step One In Figuring Out
What You Want

​Read this on my website here​

I’ve been thinking about how to figure out what you want. This is one of the most common dilemmas my clients face in making their lives better, and that I had to figure out for myself in my own post-autism-identification journey.

For many of us, it’s really hard to know what we want, or even acknowledge that we have wants (especially when wanting has been very thoroughly trained out of us), but I guarantee you that you have wants.

All humans want. We come into this world wanting. We want milk, connection, to be cared for, and to be comforted.

At first, we have no compunction whatsoever in proclaiming our wants loudly and enthusiastically to the whole world (think of every crying baby), but then we get social training.

Some of us are trained hard and early. Some of us learn as small babies that there’s no point in crying because we won’t be answered, so we go quiet. Some learn that later, as children, teens, or adults, in unhealthy relationships.

Other people learn a different lesson. They learn that crying and screaming are highly effective methods of getting their wants met. At least, until someone in some relationship pushes back.

Most of us, to varying degrees, learn to suppress our wants in order to live around other people. Or, we become so convinced that our wants are inappropriate that we suppress them.

On the flip side, some of us plague others with our wants: demanding, coercing, manipulating, creating situations in which others push aside their wants in exchange for the feeling of safety that comes with placating their survival instincts, which are on alert around us.

The healthy place is somewhere in between; where we are able to value our wants, express them, seek their fulfillment, talk about them with others, and be provided with reasonable support to pursue them. And in turn, we value, support, and give others the freedom to pursue their wants.

When there are conflicting wants, or ideas of how to fulfill them, then we can work together to find a solution that works for both of us, rather than settle for a win-lose or lose-lose trade off.

That’s not always easy, or obvious, and it usually takes learning healthy communication skills that we weren’t taught growing up (most of us were not taught particularly healthy communication patterns), but it is possible.

I’ll get more into how to do that later. For now, I just want to set up that it is possible. Because believing that your wants exist, matter, and can be met, is the first step in learning to figure out what you want.

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About Heather
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Hi, I’m Heather. I’m Autistic, ADHD, disabled, and building a life I love.

I coach Autistic and other neurodivergent humans on creating their own neurowonderful lives.

Want personalized support in making your life more autism-friendly? See if 1:1 coaching is a good fit for you.
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