Collection: Shop Neurodiverse

Everything we do is because of the ways our brains work, and everyone's brain is different. Seriously! But our world doesn't operate in a way that is accepting of each brain type. Neurodiversity is what makes our world beautiful, and this author teaches us the importance of celebrating the unique ways in which our brains help us learn, feel, and experience life!

Core themes in this book:

Creativity, Acceptance, Curiosity, Expression

Meet A Kids Co., a new kind of media company with a collection of beautifully designed books that kickstart challenging, empowering, and important conversations for kids and their grownups.

This book is an absolute must-read for educators.

Educator fatigue and burnout are at an all-time high. Students are carrying their mental and emotional exhaustion into the classroom.

Intentional Neuroplasticity explores the plasticity of the brain and nervous system, while learning how adversity and trauma impact a student's developing nervous system to affect behaviors--which ultimately changes the way educators approach discipline and engagement.

Neuroplasticity is more than the latest and greatest buzzword-when educational practitioners are informed and encouraged to share this dynamic, miraculous superpower of human potentiality, both teachers and children understand why they feel the way they do, and how feelings and thoughts impact their mood, motivation, and engagement. When we empower and relieve our nervous systems with the language of science and deepened understanding of why we sense, feel, and behave the ways we do, we are preparing for a lifetime of possibility through the knowledge of brain and body architecture and plasticity.

With the growing body of research in relational and affective neuroscience, our schools can benefit and serve the whole student as we prioritize the nervous system by addressing the embodied experiences, generational and historical trauma, and the stories they hold.

Lori Desautels is a teacher, not a neuroscientist-she knows that the translations and applications from the affective, developmental, social, and relational neuroscience research are critical to educational practitioners now more than ever. No one could have been prepared for the emotional and social losses, challenging behaviors, and dysregulation that are impacting the well-being of our students during the past few years-our collective nervous systems feel the tension and unrest. Intentional Neuroplasticity: Moving Our Nervous Systems and Educational System Toward Post-Traumatic Growth can provide educators cutting-edge information, practices, tools, and exercises to regulate and empower themselves and their students for resiliency and success!

KIRKUS REVIEWS writes: "A manual for empathic and trauma-informed teaching. In her latest book, Desautels, an assistant professor in Indiana-based Butler University's College of Education, builds on her work in Connections Over Compliance (2020) to offer a framework to create an effective learning environment for students while also optimizing teachers' mental health. Drawing on applied educational neuroscience and polyvagal theory (which foregrounds the role of the vagus nerve on emotions and reactions to trauma), Desautels explains how to approach and maintain emotional regulation, help students achieve stability, and create a supportive environment that allows space for learning.

The book encourages teachers to coregulate with students, modeling such behaviors as deep breathing, taking breaks, and mindfulness, while also understanding that the methods they find most useful may not be the ones their students prefer. Desautels addresses the specific problems that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought to the learning experience but reminds readers that there's always been a need for welcoming approaches to teaching.

The book includes several 'Guest Reflections' by other teachers, which offer additional perspectives on trauma-informed teaching and provide concrete examples of implementing this book's highlighted techniques. Desautels acknowledges that her methods may require a fundamental shift in classroom management, but she persuasively presents the work as worthwhile.

Tween actress Mia Armstrong celebrates her fun, funny, beautiful childhood living with Down syndrome in this debut picture book.

Mia likes many of the things other people like--going to the beach, the color blue, drawing. But she doesn't like when strangers stare at her because she looks different from them.

Down syndrome allows Mia to see and understand the world in a way that may not make sense to others. She considers it her superpower--and instead of it making her strange, she considers herself a masterpiece. As we all are.

In this sparkling picture book, Mia offers a glimpse into the life of a child with Down syndrome, helping some readers see themselves in a book and helping others understand those friends, classmates, and family members who are neurodivergent.

Aaron Slater, Illustrator is an uplifting story about the power of art, finding your voice, and telling your story even when you're out of step with your peers, from Andrea Beaty and David Roberts, the #1 bestselling creators of Sofia Valdez, Future Prez and Ada Twist, Scientist!

An instant #1 New York Times bestseller!

An instant USA Today bestseller!

Aaron Slater loves listening to stories and dreams of one day writing them himself. But when it comes to reading, the letters just look like squiggles to him, and it soon becomes clear he struggles more than his peers. When his teacher asks each child in the class to write a story, Aaron can't get a single word down. He is sure his dream of being a storyteller is out of reach . . . until inspiration strikes, and Aaron finds a way to spin a tale in a way that is uniquely his.

Printed with a dyslexia-friendly font, Aaron Slater, Illustrator tells the empowering story of a boy with dyslexia who discovers that his learning disability may inform who he is, but it does not define who he is, and that there are many ways to be a gifted communicator.

Check out all the books in the Questioneers Series:

• The Questioneers Picture Book Series: Iggy Peck, Architect Rosie Revere, Engineer Ada Twist, Scientist Sofia Valdez, Future Prez Aaron Slater, Illustrator Lila Greer, Teacher of the Year
• The Questioneers Chapter Book Series: Rosie Revere and the Raucous Riveters Ada Twist and the Perilous Pants Iggy Peck and the Mysterious Mansion Sofia Valdez and the Vanishing Vote Ada Twist and the Disappearing Dogs Aaron Slater and the Sneaky Snake
• Questioneers: The Why Files Series: Exploring Flight! All About Plants! The Science of Baking Bug Bonanza! Rockin' Robots!
• Questioneers: Ada Twist, Scientist Series: Ghost Busted Show Me the Bunny Ada Twist, Scientist: Brainstorm Book 5-Minute Ada Twist, Scientist Stories
• The Questioneers Big Project Book Series: Iggy Peck's Big Project Book for Amazing Architects Rosie Revere's Big Project Book for Bold Engineers Ada Twist's Big Project Book for Stellar Scientists Sofia Valdez's Big Project Book for Awesome Activists Aaron Slater's Big Project Book for Astonishing Artists

New York Times bestseller!

From renowned mental health expert and speaker Dr. Gabor Maté, Scattered Minds explodes the myth of attention deficit disorder (ADD/ADHD) as genetically based--and offers real hope and advice for children and adults who live with the condition.

In this breakthrough guide to understanding, treating, and healing Attention Deficit Disorder, Dr. Gabor Maté, bestselling author of The Myth of Normal, and himself diagnosed with ADD:

• Demonstrates that the condition is not a genetic "illness" but a response to environmental stress
• Explains that in ADD, circuits in the brain whose job is emotional self-regulation and attention control fail to develop in infancy - and why
• Shows how 'distractibility' is the psychological product of life experience
• Allows parents to understand what makes their ADD children tick, and adults with ADD to gain insights into their emotions and behaviors
• Expresses optimism about neurological development even in adulthood
• Presents a program of how to promote this development in both children and adults

Whereas other books on the subject describe the condition as inherited, Dr. Maté believes that our social and emotional environments play a key role in both the cause of and cure for this condition. In Scattered Minds, he describes the painful realities of ADD and its effect on children as well as on career and social paths in adults.

While acknowledging that genetics may indeed play a part in predisposing a person toward ADD, Dr. Maté moves beyond that to focus on the things we can control: changes in environment, family dynamics, and parenting choices. He draws heavily on his own experience with the disorder, as both an ADD sufferer and the parent of diagnosed children. Providing a thorough overview of ADD and its treatments, without blaming anyone, Scattered Minds is essential and life-changing reading for the millions of ADD sufferers in North America today.

Is your brain magic? Whether your brain buzzes around the room like a bee or tells you to be loud and roar like a lion, celebrate the many things that it can be!

This sensory-seeking celebration shines a light on neurodiversity and sensory processing in a fun and action-packed way for all children to enjoy.