A practical, autism-affirming guide to helping your teen move through the social and structural shifts of summer with more steadiness and less burnout.

When four-year-old Marcus covers his ears and melts down in the grocery store, it's not a behavioral problem. When his sister Emma seeks out tight hugs and crashes into furniture throughout the day, she's not being destructive. Both children are autistic, and their behaviors reflect the profound ways that sensory processing differences affect how they experience and navigate the world.