Book Review
A short overview of this book
Piper Gets Her Period by Sarah Hausler is a lovely book for explaining puberty to autistic girls. The focus is on puberty, and sexual intercourse is not discussed in this book.
This is what the author has to say about this book…
Getting your period may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be scary.
Piper Gets Her Period is a book about menstruation, specifically for girls with autism, which aims to provide easy to read information about puberty and the experience of having a period.
The first part of this book is an illustrated story about Piper on the day she gets her very first period. The story is written as a literal and simple narrative, designed to be easy to follow and understand, yet highly relatable.
The second part of the book is a non-fiction resource which explains menstruation and related information in detail, in a straightforward and factual manner.
Topics include:
- What is menstruation?
- How and why do periods happen
- Managing periods and using menstrual products
- Body symptoms and self-care during your period
- An extensive FAQ section which includes many of the questions girls want to know, but might be too embarrassed to ask about.
Piper Gets Her Period is written to educate and empower girls with autism to understand their bodies, and to face the onset of puberty with knowledge and confidence.
You can learn more on this page, about how to talk to kids about sex education.
Ideal Age
Ideal for children aged 8 to 12 years.
Buy this book
✅ Buy a copy of Piper Gets Her Period by Sarah Hausler from Amazon.
Video Transcription
A transcription in case you are more of a reader than a listener
Hey there! Welcome to Sex Ed Rescue with Cath Hak. I’m here to help parents have those sometimes tricky conversations with their kids, and today I want to talk about a fantastic book for autistic girls about getting their period.
The book is called Piper gets her period: a book about menstruation written specially for girls with autism by Sarah Hausler, an occupational therapist who works with autistic kids. It’s an Australian book published in 2020, and let me tell you, it’s packed with helpful information!
The book covers all the important stuff like what menstruation is, why it happens, how to manage periods and use menstrual products, and even self-care tips. It also has a handy FAQ section with lots of questions that your child might have.
Now, let me show you a sneak peek inside. As you can see, it’s filled with useful information presented in a story format centered around Piper. There are a few pictures, but it’s not a book that goes into all the details about puberty and hair growth. It does have a diagram of what’s inside the body, though.
I do want to mention that the book uses the term girls throughout, so it may not fully address gender diversity. But don’t let that discourage you from reading it! You can explain to your child that this book is written for girls, but it’s still relevant because, hey, periods happen to everyone, regardless of how they identify.
It’s important to remember that books are often written for the majority, and that’s okay. We can still find value in them and have open conversations with our kids to make sure they understand and feel supported.
I find it fascinating how much we’ve learned about autistic kids and gender diversity, and it’s a shame when these topics aren’t fully explored in books specifically targeting autistic children. But hey, no book is perfect, right?
At the end of the day, this is a great little book that can help prepare autistic girls for their periods. So go ahead and give it a read with your child. And if you ever come across any negativity or pushback, just remember that we’re all about treating everyone as equals here.
Alright, cheers!
