Read Manchester’s Neurodiverse primary school collections 

Read Manchester has developed a new collection of books under its ‘See Myself in Books’ umbrella, celebrating all kinds of diversities. Our new Neurodiverse collection recognises and represents children with a range of neurodivergent conditions and consists of 25 books for primary pupils with a resource sheet and synopsis.  These collections are now going out to over 30 schools across the city. 

Neurodiversity refers to the way the brain works and interprets information. Estimates suggest that around 1 in 7 of the UK population is neurodivergent, meaning that the brain functions, learns and processes information differently to someone who is neurotypical. Neurodivergence can include ADD, ADHD, autism, dyscalculia, dyslexia, dyspraxia, executive dysfunction, OCD, stammering, Tourette’s, tics and stimming amongst others. Neurodivergent people often experience more than one of these conditions. We believe that books are a great way to raise awareness and improve understanding of different experiences. Books can be a helpful tool in opening children up to different realities and perspectives and help to counter misconceptions. They can also help children to feel seen and understood. We’ve put together this collection of 25 books that feature children and families’ stories of neurodiversity. 

We asked schools to tell us why they would like one of these collections and they told us:  

We have several neurodiverse children at our school and we feel it would be really positive if they could see themselves in books, we would also find it helpful to share with all children so that they can be empathetic and understanding towards others who may be neurodiverse. We could also share this information with parents to help support them. 

Another school said: 

We were lucky enough to be given the ‘see yourself in books (ethnic diversity)’ collection and these have proved invaluable…. We would plan to use the neurodiverse books in a similar way to help aid understanding of differences, promote discussion and also help some of our children really see their part in our diverse community. 

Manchester Libraries/Read Manchester will also support neurodiversity through their wider engagement programme with schools by bringing authors/illustrators who identify as neurodivergent to visit libraries in the city.   

The collections have been kindly funded by Dowhigh Limited (Civil Engineering) and Read Manchester. If you would like to help us offer the book collection to more Manchester LA schools, please get in touch with margaret.duff@manchester.gov.uk. 

You can find out more about our See Myself in Books programme celebrating ethnic diversity on Read Manchester’s website.