Starting off by saying that I am a person with autism, not a therapist. My therapist recently talked with me about how autistic people tend to have issues with the vagal nerve and gave me exercises to help with that. I wanted to learn a little more about it because everything she said about it resonated with me—I often feel this overwhelming anxiety without knowing why and the breathing exercises she gave me offered some relief on that anxiety that I usually can't make a dent in.

This book is mostly for therapists/clinicians but it had a lot of interesting insights about what autism is and how there's more evidence for it being dysfunction with the nervous system than just a brain wiring thing. The author, who himself has autism, has seen in his research that autistic people have difficulty feeling safe because of the dysfunctional nervous system and that can lead to a lot of the distressing symptoms. He offered practical strategies—mainly around the vagal nerve, self-compassion, and mindfulness—that were framed as advice for therapists but can be useful for autistic people who are looking to better understand vagal nerve dysfunction and how to make themselves feel safe and reduce some of the shame they (me included) feel.