 So, just as an intro to this video, my camera isn't quite high enough, the tripod so I want to raise it, so I finally found a good use for my PhD thesis. Today I'm talking to you about this book. It is for clinicians and it is to help improve our practice when supporting women and girls with autistic spectrum condition autism. So it's written by Fiona Fischer-Berlevant, her name is something like that, I'm not good with the names thing. It seems to be a running theme in my book reviews. Anyway, it's written by her, Fiona, and she has got loads of experience, like 30 years of experience working with people on the spectrum in camps, so really, really good practical down-to-earth advice from a specialist nurse working on the front line. So the book basically came out of Fiona's frustration working with young women with autistic spectrum condition and feeling like we could do this better, essentially, and I think their frustration too. And so in the book, she works directly with young women affected by autism and they come up with suggestions and guidelines, really, really practical stuff that clinicians can use to improve their practice. And the nice thing about the book is it feels really doable. So it's all about building the right kinds of relationships essentially and it recognises some of the bits where we might go wrong and the different approaches that we might take. So it's not about saying, hey, you're getting this all wrong now, it's about saying these are some things you might do slightly differently or these are things you might look out for. So it's kind of, I don't know, it kind of, it doesn't feel judgmental, like sometimes these things can, but rather it's supportive. It's building on your existing skills, I guess, rather than criticising your current practice. So I will just show you the contents here hopefully now. And so you can see that the book kind of works through in a fairly logical fashion, which is great for people like me who are autistic. Love this. Yes, we kind of understand, first of all, why we're looking at girls and young women and understanding that this is a bit different than working with boys and men and that we might not recognise, that masks quite often. We then meet three people who tell their stories throughout this and the nice thing is that we hear from them and also from their parents and caregivers too. So you get these different insights throughout the book, which is really nice. It really brings it to life. So you've got both the kind of clinical experience of Fiona. So the professional working on the front line, then also the women themselves and girls themselves and then their families too. So you've got these different viewpoints, which really kind of gives a richness to the book and gives you lots of different angles from which to look at this and different points of view as well. So I think that's the other nice thing is that so Millie, Darcy and Esther have quite different experiences and that shines through throughout the book and it just really reinforces that, whilst the book can give you guidance and ideas, actually, you know, when you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism and that we need to be flexible and be reflective of our practice and always be looking to develop it. And then we kind of work on through. So it starts with relationships and it's really key here. The relationships form the kind of the bedrock of the whole of the rest of the book. So that chapter is really important. And then we kind of work on through about how we can ensure we get appropriate diagnosis. Comorbidities is a great chapter. I think that's one that many of my network will find especially helpful. So we look at things like comorbid anxieties. In case you're not a clinician, comorbidity just means two different things alongside each other or multiple things alongside each other. So you might be autistic and have an eating disorder or autistic and have a diagnosis of anxiety, for example. And it looks at how sometimes these comorbidities are easily missed, for example, and the signs that we might look out for. And then there's stuff around assessment and intervention. So it's really thorough. It is like many of the books I like, not huge, but really, really thorough. So to give you a bit of an idea, I'll show you a few pages that I've picked out. So I'm looking first at page 82. This is in the comorbidities chapter. And this page I picked out because he's looking at OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder and what that might look like in women with autism. And noticing why we might sometimes overlook it and what this might look like and realising that the OCD might sit separately to the autism, but the two conditions might sort of feed off each other, etc. So I think that's a really nice example of how helpful that comorbidities chapter is in improving our understanding. Then I wanted to highlight page 34. Now, I really like page 34 because it's basically a list of reasons why we shouldn't see always the diagnosis of autism as a terrible thing. But that actually, if instead we embrace this and we work with the person who we're supporting, that's actually there are parts of those autistic traits that can prove to be really beneficial in terms of supporting them. So, yeah, thinking about their ability to see detail and how helpful and that can be. So I like that because it's really positive and quite often we take a bit of a deficit approach to things like autism and we think it's all doom and gloom and actually this helps us to spin that on its head and gives us some really positive and proactive stuff that we can do as clinician. And then I wanted to highlight page 43 because this is kind of this feels like the crux of the book really. So page 43 is in the chapter where we're looking at the relationships that you can build with someone with autism. And this in particular is about being humane and I particularly picked out this bit, both because I think it really highlights the approach of the book and gives you real flavour for what this is like. But also this shows how the author has drawn on the experiences of both Millie, who is a young woman who is autistic and also her parent, Lisa. And it also shows how much difference this, you know, changing the approach can take. So Lisa says when she was finally given an appointment, the meeting was excruciating to watch. She sat rocking in a chair and picking invisible flecks out of the air. It felt as if she was being interrogated and she couldn't answer the questions that were being put to her and so on and so forth. But then Millie says, you know, what happened after she had a more positive therapeutic relationship? It was so important to feel a connection with someone who was there to help. I didn't feel like a number in a system. I felt like a person who mattered and who was actually cared about. So you see how much difference it can make when we take time to change our approach a little bit. So it's, yeah, great book, three, three things. I was like three things that I most like about books. So I think this falls into my small but mighty criteria. So many books that I really like tend to be quite short, really concise, but pack a mean punch. And this is definitely one of them. Like it's a short book, but there's so much information in here. And it's one you could keep returning to in order to try and kind of improve your practice. Secondly, I really like the fact that there's really good practical advice and ideas here, but that it's building on your existing strengths rather than just looking at where current weaknesses might be in your practice. And then finally, I really love the mix of kind of clinician input and then also the lived experience from the young people and their parents as well. So there's lots of different voices kind of telling this story and letting you see it from different points of view. And I think that's a real, really sort of valuable part of the book. So I would recommend it. I mean, it's aimed primarily at clinicians to help you improve your practice. But actually, anyone who is doing significant amounts of work, building relationships with young women with autism or women of any age, I guess, with autism, it would be worth a read, really. I think it's a bit of an eye opener and can help to just improve your understanding of those girls and young women that you might be working with. So, yeah, don't think it's not for you just because you're not a clinician. I would certainly consider getting hold of a copy and giving it a go. I hope it was helpful. Please do subscribe for new videos on Tuesdays and Fridays. And I'll see you next time. Bye.