The penultimate installment in our 2025-26 Doody’s Special Topics List series covers autism. This curated collection brings together both clinical and lived experience resources that create a foundational understanding of autism. Across a plethora of books including neurodiversity-affirming clinical guides, diagnostic and assessment handbooks, and evidence-based intervention frameworks, this list supports healthcare professionals, educators, and researchers in delivering informed, person-centered care across the lifespan. Alongside the clinical resources, there is no better way to understand autism than from those with experience. In that regard, this list also highlights autistic voices through memoirs, essays, and community-authored works that reposition autistic individuals as primary authorities on their own identities, needs, and aspirations. Strong attention is given to intersectionality, with dedicated resources addressing gender diversity, race, aging, co-occurring conditions, and life-stage experiences including pregnancy, parenting, and menopause. Practical tools for communication, sensory regulation, therapy, and daily living are complemented by critical scholarship examining the politics of diagnosis, masking, and societal barriers. The collection diverges from the idea of “understanding autism” as a purely clinical task, and more so as a relational, participatory process grounded in listening, collaboration, and respect for neurodivergent ways of being. This collection bridges that gap to offer librarians a comprehensive and contemporary foundation to enrich autism education with more ethical, inclusive, and effective approaches. 

This Doody’s Special Topics Lists comprises 54 titles across 18 publishers. The prices for these titles range from $11.99 to $299.99, with an average cost of $46.99. Doody’s Review Service features numerous well-reviewed titles from this DSTL, including Handbook of Evidence-Based Practices in Autism Spectrum Disorder, Reichow et al. (Springer, 2025) and Autism in Nursing and Healthcare, Barber (Wiley, 2025). 

Doody’s Review Service subscribers can access the list by clicking here and logging in. Doody’s Core Titles customers can view the list by clicking here to log in. Readers may also be able to access the list through one of our licensing partners: EBSCO, GOBI, or Matthews. For help getting access, please contact Customer Service. Stay tuned for the final volume of our 2025-26 Doody’s Special Topics Lists, which is due to be released in July.