Life on the Bridge: Linking My World to Yours as an Autistic Therapist

Therapist and former Love on the Spectrum star Partlow blends clinical expertise with her lived experience for this clear-eyed debut guide to understanding autism. She disputes framings of the condition as either a “superpower” or a character flaw, explaining how the developmental condition spans a broad spectrum and demands highly personalized forms of support and management. She unpacks the challenges those on the spectrum face with communication, sensory over- or under-stimulation, and changes to routine, outlining possible fixes like augmentative communication devices, environmental modifications, and goal recalibration, each of which is meant to reduce distress, increase autonomy, and improve quality of life (rather than hew to neurotypical developmental benchmarks). Partlow does especially valuable work in drawing attention to challenges faced by autistic populations often marginalized in public discourse, including nonspeaking autistic people who require significant, lifelong support and who are often obscured in favor of highly verbal autistic people overrepresented on social media. The result is a compassionate, pragmatic resource for parents, educators, and caregivers looking to better understand the condition. (Mar.)