I would organise what you have into something like this:
Front Matter
- Title Page
- Special Needs, Learning Difficulties, Disabilities, and Mental Health Awareness
- By Sara Jane Gorman
- Author's Note
- Preface
- Why you began writing
- Your journey from your original website in 2007
- Your involvement with Our Shout
- Your advocacy and training work
- Why this book exists
- A Note About Accessibility
- Easy-read language
- Short sections
- Pictures/symbols where useful
- Readers can skip sections they already understand
PART 1 — MY STORY AND WHY THIS BOOK EXISTS
Chapter 1 — My Journey
This is where your personal story belongs.
You could explain:
- being born in Wolverhampton
- growing up with learning difficulties and disabilities
- difficulties getting appropriate support
- experiences with education
- your family fighting for support
- becoming involved with Our Shout
- discovering self-advocacy
- wanting to become a writer from the age of 23
- developing your career in advocacy and education
This makes the book personal before you move into educational material.
Chapter 2 — From Self-Advocacy to Advocacy for Others
Include:
- Our Shout
- One Voice Advocacy Service
- Success Group
- your training work
- giving talks to professionals
- your work as a visiting lecturer/trainer
- the play you helped write and produce in 2008
- your continuing advocacy work
This is particularly important because you aren't simply writing about disability from a textbook perspective.
You have experience of working alongside people with disabilities and teaching professionals about these subjects.
PART 2 — UNDERSTANDING LEARNING DISABILITIES AND SPECIAL NEEDS
This could be your educational foundation.
Chapter 3 — What Do We Mean by "Special Needs"?
Explain:
- special educational needs
- disability
- learning disability
- learning difficulty
- developmental disability
- neurodevelopmental conditions
- mental illness
- mental health
One important point I'd make throughout the book is that these terms are not interchangeable.
For example, dyslexia and intellectual disability/learning disability are not the same thing, even though both can affect learning.
Chapter 4 — Learning Disabilities vs Learning Difficulties
This fits beautifully with the questions you already wrote:
What is the difference between a learning disability and a learning difficulty?
Then give accessible examples.
Chapter 5 — What Does "Neurodiversity" Mean?
This is where your large neurodiversity section belongs.
You could introduce:
- autism
- ADHD
- dyslexia
- dyspraxia/DCD
- dyscalculia
- Tourette syndrome
- other neurodevelopmental differences
But I would make one important distinction:
Neurodiversity refers to the diversity of human brains and ways of processing information.
Neurodivergent generally describes people whose neurological development differs from what is considered typical.
That distinction will make the book more academically accurate.
PART 3 — LIVING WITH NEURODIVERGENCE
This could become one of the strongest parts of your book because it connects research with lived experience.
Chapter 6 — Thinking Differently
Discuss:
- different ways of processing information
- literal thinking
- visual thinking
- pattern recognition
- intense interests
- focused attention
- problem-solving
- executive-function difficulties
Chapter 7 — Feeling Differently
Discuss:
- emotional intensity
- sensory experiences
- overwhelm
- anxiety
- emotional regulation
- empathy
- differences in emotional expression
I would be careful with statements such as "neurodivergent people have heightened empathy."
Instead:
Some neurodivergent people describe experiencing strong empathy, while others experience or express empathy differently. There is considerable individual variation.
That is much safer and more accurate.
Chapter 8 — Learning Differently
Include:
- traditional education
- hands-on learning
- visual information
- quiet environments
- repetition
- assistive technology
- accessible teaching
- strengths and difficulties
Chapter 9 — Communicating Differently
Discuss:
- direct communication
- literal language
- body language
- eye contact
- written communication
- verbal communication
- communication aids
- misunderstandings between neurodivergent and neurotypical people
Chapter 10 — Everyday Life
This is where you can discuss:
- routines
- sensory environments
- social situations
- masking
- fatigue
- coping strategies
- independence
- reasonable adjustments
- resilience
PART 4 — STRENGTHS, TALENTS AND POSSIBILITIES
I really like this direction in your notes.
Instead of presenting disability only as a list of problems, you are asking:
What can people do?
Possible chapters:
Chapter 11 — Creativity
Chapter 12 — Pattern Recognition
Chapter 13 — Attention to Detail
Chapter 14 — Deep Interests and Expertise
Chapter 15 — Problem-Solving
Chapter 16 — Memory and Knowledge
Chapter 17 — Honesty, Loyalty and Authenticity
Chapter 18 — Resilience and Perseverance
However, I'd make one important change to your existing wording.
Rather than saying:
"Neurodivergent people have exceptional creativity."
I'd write:
"Some neurodivergent people describe creativity, pattern recognition, intense interests, attention to detail, or unusual approaches to problem-solving as personal strengths. These strengths are not universal, and every person's abilities are different."
That prevents the book from replacing one stereotype with another.
PART 5 — MENTAL HEALTH AND MENTAL ILLNESS
This deserves its own section rather than being mixed into neurodiversity.
Chapter 19 — What Is Mental Health?
Chapter 20 — What Is Mental Illness?
Chapter 21 — Mental Health and Disability
Chapter 22 — Anxiety
Chapter 23 — Depression
Chapter 24 — Bipolar Disorder
Chapter 25 — Personality Disorders
Chapter 26 — Psychotic Disorders
Chapter 27 — Addiction and Mental Health
And so on.
This fits very well with the psychology work you've been doing recently.
PART 6 — DISABILITY AND DIFFERENT CONDITIONS
You could then have accessible chapters covering different groups of conditions.
For example:
Neurodevelopmental and cognitive conditions
- Autism
- ADHD
- Dyslexia
- Dyspraxia/DCD
- Dyscalculia
- Intellectual disability
- Developmental disabilities
Physical disabilities
- Cerebral palsy
- ALS/motor neurone disease
- Deafness
- Blindness
- mobility disabilities
Other conditions
You can explain that a person can have more than one condition, and that disability and mental health can interact without one automatically causing the other.
PART 7 — PEOPLE BEHIND THE LABELS
This is where your famous-person material could work really well.
Instead of simply having a giant list, divide it into categories.
🧠 Writers and Thinkers
For example:
- John Nash
- Virginia Woolf
- Ernest Hemingway
- Charles Dickens
- John Keats
🎨 Artists
- Frida Kahlo
- others with documented disabilities or mental-health experiences
🎵 Musicians and Performers
- Elton John
- Stevie Wonder
- Stephen Fry
- Carrie Fisher
- Robin Williams
- Demi Lovato
♿ Disability Representation
- Helen Keller
- Stephen Hawking
- Marlee Matlin
- RJ Mitte
- Nick Vujicic
But there is an important research issue here.
Some of the historical diagnoses in your list are uncertain or based on later speculation. For example, you shouldn't present someone as having bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, dyslexia, etc. simply because a modern website says so.
You could use a notation such as:
Documented diagnosis: the person publicly disclosed or reliable historical evidence supports the diagnosis.
Reported/biographical evidence: there is credible evidence of difficulties, but no confirmed diagnosis.
Speculated: historians or biographers have suggested a condition, but it should not be presented as fact.
That would make your book much more academically responsible.
PART 8 — EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT AND ADVOCACY
This is another particularly strong area for you.
Education
- reasonable adjustments
- accessible teaching
- special educational needs
- inclusive classrooms
- bullying
- transition to adulthood
Employment
You already have an important observation:
Many employers don't understand learning disabilities or mental health.
You can explore:
- discrimination
- reasonable accommodations
- employment support
- strengths-based employment
- workplace communication
- training
- inclusive recruitment
Advocacy
This connects directly to your own experience.
You can explain:
- self-advocacy
- professional advocacy
- family advocacy
- speaking up
- knowing your rights
- being listened to
- person-centred support
PART 9 — SUPPORTING PEOPLE
This could be very practical.
For families
For friends
For support workers
For teachers
For healthcare professionals
For employers
For carers
And your message can remain very simple:
You don't have to experience someone's disability yourself to listen, learn and support them.
PART 10 — DIFFICULT SUBJECTS
Your idea of a chapter called:
Talking About Hard Things
is excellent.
It could cover:
- bullying
- loneliness
- feeling different
- mental distress
- self-harm
- suicide
- discrimination
- hate crime
- abuse
- loss
- grief
And you can include your accessibility warning:
If a section makes you uncomfortable or upset, it is okay to stop reading. You can come back later or talk to someone you trust.
That fits your Easy Read philosophy very well.
PART 11 — STORIES, POEMS AND CREATIVE WORK
I would keep this separate from the educational material.
You could include:
- your poems
- your artwork
- personal stories
- creative writing
- the 2008 play
- experiences from advocacy
- reflections from your life
This gives the reader a chance to see the person behind the information.
PART 12 — RESOURCES
Finally:
Useful websites
Books
Research databases
Advocacy organisations
UK resources
US resources
Easy Read resources
Further reading
This is where your PubMed, PsycINFO, ERIC, Google Scholar, ASAN, International Dyslexia Association, etc. material belongs.
A revised opening for your book
I think your current material could be turned into a much stronger author's introduction without losing your voice.
Why I Wrote This Book
I have wanted to be a writer since I was 23 years old.
This book has grown from that dream.
I have lived with learning difficulties, disabilities and mental health challenges throughout my life. I know what it is like to need support, to have to explain yourself, and to sometimes feel that other people do not understand what life is like for you.
But my story is not only about difficulties.
It is also about learning, creativity, advocacy, relationships, achievements, resilience and finding ways to help other people.
I first began writing about these subjects on my website in 2007. At the time, I was going through a difficult period in my life, including the loss of my grandmother. With support from my mother and sister, I began putting my experiences into words.
I was also involved with Our Shout, a self-advocacy group in Wolverhampton. That experience helped me begin a career working with people with learning disabilities and mental health difficulties.
Over the years, I have worked in advocacy, training and education. I have spoken to professionals and helped raise awareness of learning disability and mental health.
This book is another part of that journey.
A message to the reader
This book is for people with learning disabilities, learning difficulties, disabilities, mental health difficulties and other challenges.
It is also for families, friends, carers, support workers, teachers, students, professionals and anyone who wants to understand more.
You may already know some of the information in this book.
That's okay.
You may find some subjects easy to understand and others more difficult.
That's okay too.
Take what you need and skip what you don't.
We all learn differently.
I am still learning too.
Some things in this book come from my own experiences. Other things come from research, books, educational resources and information I have found while studying these subjects.
I do not expect everyone to agree with everything I write.
That's okay.
If this book helps you understand something you did not understand before, helps someone feel less alone, or encourages someone to listen to another person's experience, then I will feel that it has achieved something important.
The neurodiversity section could then follow
Understanding Neurodiversity
Neurodiversity is a way of recognising that human brains do not all work in exactly the same way.
People can think, learn, communicate, experience the world and process information differently.
The term neurodivergent is often used to describe people whose neurological development differs from what is considered typical.
Neurodevelopmental conditions and differences can include autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia/developmental coordination disorder and dyscalculia, among others.
Being neurodivergent does not mean that a person has only difficulties or only strengths.
People are individuals.
A person may have significant challenges in one area while having considerable strengths in another.
My aim in this book is therefore not simply to describe difficulties. I also want to explore abilities, talents, interests, creativity, resilience and the different ways people can contribute to society.
That last sentence, I think, is very much the heart of what you are trying to do.
One thing I'd particularly change in the manuscript
Your notes currently repeat the same neurodiversity material several times:
- thinking
- feeling
- learning
- communicating
- coping
- strengths
- research resources
- employment
- advocacy
You don't need to delete it. Keep one master version and remove the duplicates.
I'd also separate your own lived experience from general claims about neurodivergent people.
For example:
My experience:
"I often find direct language easier to understand than indirect hints."
Then:
Research perspective:
"Some neurodivergent people report preferring direct communication, although communication preferences vary considerably."
That distinction will make your book both more personal and more academically credible.
And your famous-person section should be treated similarly: documented facts first, speculation clearly labelled or removed.
The overall book is becoming much more than a collection of definitions. It has the potential to combine lived experience, Easy Read education, psychology, disability awareness, advocacy, research and creative writing. That combination is what makes your project distinctive.
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