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Different Minds

How We Can Help Our Autistic School Children Thrive

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Different Minds

By: Pete Wharmby
Narrated by: Pete Wharmby
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If you have an autistic child in school, you may be painfully aware that mainstream education wasn’t built with them in mind.

In Different Minds, former teacher and neurodivergence campaigner Pete Wharmby reveals what it’s really like to be autistic in school today and why so many children are misunderstood. Through a blend of storytelling, impassioned polemic and empathetic advice, Wharmby exposes the inadequacies of the current system, reveals how differences are mislabelled ‘challenging behaviour’ and explains how to bridge the gap between the autistic and non-autistic worlds.

Galvanising, validating and important, Different Minds empowers parents, teachers and carers to take a stand for our children and create the conditions they need to truly thrive.

'This is the book I'll be recommending to every parent who tells me their child is struggling' – Anna Mathur, psychotherapist and bestselling author

'A book I wish I had years ago. Every parent and teacher needs to read this' – Lisa Lloyd, Sunday Times bestselling author and SEN parent

'A bible for parents of school-aged autistic children' - Annie Ridout, author, journalist, poet

'One of the most important voices on autism and education today' – Jessie Hewitson, SEND agony aunt, The Times and the Sunday Times, and author of Autism: How to Raise a Happy Autistic Child

'Different Minds asks the forgotten question at the heart of modern education: are the kids alright? Compassionate, urgent and deeply validating.' – Leanne Maskell, author of AuDHD: Blooming Differently and ADHD an A–Z: Figuring it Out Step by Step

© Pete Wharmby 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

 Children's Health Education Relationships Special Education & Disabilities Autism
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Critic reviews

Different Minds is a book I wish I had years ago when my autistic child first started school and it's a book I wish my parents had to help them to understand my anxiety around school. Not only does it help parents feel less alone when navigating the school system with a child with SEND, but it also helps you to step into your child’s shoes and see the world through their eyes. This is a book that every parent and teacher needs to read and a book that will help so many to understand why children are not coping at school. (Lisa Lloyd, Sunday Times bestselling author and SEN parent)
One of the most important voices on autism and education today. (Jessie Hewitson, SEND agony aunt, The Times and the Sunday Times)
I truly wish this book had been around when my child started to struggle in school. Back then, I knew nothing about autism, and how being autistic can make school unbearable if the child isn’t being supported in the ways they need. This book covers everything that I spent five years researching, at home, alone. And more. It is a bible for parents of school-aged autistic children.
Different Minds asks the forgotten question at the heart of modern education: are the kids alright? Compassionate, urgent and deeply validating. (Leanne Maskell, coach and author of AuDHD and ADHD an A–Z)
Beautifully written and deeply human, Pete reframes the behaviour that exhausts and worries parents as information rather than failure. He gives families something far more useful and needed than just strategies, he gives them compassion and understanding. It’s warm, wise and long overdue. This is the book I'll be recommending to every parent who tells me their child is struggling. (Anna Mathur, psychotherapist, author and speaker)
Pete Wharmby has written the book many families will recognise in their bodies before they recognise it on the page. Different Minds refuses to mistake autistic distress for disobedience, or parental advocacy for overreaction. It is tender, furious, deeply clarifying and exactly the kind of book that can shift a conversation. (Dr Emma Offord, Clinical Psychologist and founder of Divergent Life)
All stars
Most relevant
This might be the most moving and important book about Autism that I have read yet. and I have read a lot. If you only read one book about autism (please don't only read one though) make it this one.

I am autistic, my son is autistic, and this book feels like a gift, and I am in admiration of the strength the author has found to write it.

I am off now to buy several hard copies, to share with my family and friends, and most importantly, my son's school!

Thank you Pete Wharmby x

outstanding

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