About
Our Mission
Neurodiversity Press will serve as the trade publishing world’s trusted source for progressive neurodiverse narratives and information. In our acceptance of a more inclusive definition of “neurodiversity” we will embrace, not fear, truly forward-thinking stories and narratives. We will try to be brave, and eloquent. Only therein can we create the type of behavioral pluralism that is necessary for a genuinely inclusive world.
…One great book at a time.
Jill Studnicki
Publisher
Neurodiversity Press fulfills a long-standing dream for Jill Studnicki.
Jill got her start as a classroom teacher, where she saw neurodiverse students with enormous potential become quickly thwarted by an educational system that preferred to demonize them for their behaviors rather than consider their needs.
She then took her belief in the mandatory nature of outside the box thinking to build up a separate private practice as an Executive Coach and consultant, soon accruing clients that continue to credit her with outstanding facilitation skills.
Jill has a BA in History and a Masters degree in Teaching. She is committed to creating a generation of empowered contributors through publishing, personal coaching, education, and a variety of volunteer opportunities. This commitment to vision is at the core of her work, and is the touchstone of her interactions with clients, family, and friends.
Just recently she has earned a double certification from the Conscious Dying Institute as a Conscious Dying Coach and Sacred Passage Doula, with an upcoming completion in training in pediatric death.. And as of January 1, 2022, and perhaps not so coincidently, having founded and set Neurodiversity Press up for success, Jill will be taking a hiatus to concentrate on other activities. She welcomes newly-named, Michael John Carley—Neurodiversity Press’ first author—as its inaugural Chief Editor. Michael John, who will be in charge of day-to-day operations, can be reached at editor@neurodiversitypress.com
Still, you should feel free to drop Jill a line at jill@neurodiversitypress.co
Our History
This company starts with autism, the diagnosis that influenced Jill Studnicki’s career as an educator and inaugural author, Michael John Carley’s life and work.
Twenty years ago, a large portion of the neurodiversity movement’s birth came from three trade publishing companies in the autism world. Launching the careers of luminaries like Temple Grandin and Tony Attwood, these companies were the true heroes of a generation.
But they did not stay relevant. They got bigger in ways that sacrificed their leadership. They overpublished—turning out books with the same, competing subject as, not just other books, but other books within their own companies. Furthermore, they failed to promote authors who took Grandin and Attwood’s ideas further. They shied away from offending large portions of their audience—an unfortunate requisite for progressivism because real change is hard—and instead sought out the echoes of what was once advanced, but that now was not.
Meanwhile, as the concept of neurodiversity grew, it became clear that other, more stigmatized conditions like Schizophrenia, Borderline Personality Disorder, the traumas of poverty, depression, or the anxieties inflicted on any marginalized population…many of these communities had never had a successful trade publishing company to go to. And like those in the autism world before them, these communities were finally starting to take ownership of the words being used to describe them; asset-based human beings who were learning to speak of their challenges without shame.
Between 2013-2015 it was books like Barry Prizant’s “Uniquely Human,” and Andrew Solomon’s “Far From the Tree” that were the real leaders. These were the books that were brave. Both were published by mainstream, and not trade publishing companies.
Publishing itself, was struggling; and maybe there was now a calling to stop fighting that very economic fact. 99% of trade authors don’t really make money off their books, they make money off the speaking engagements they get from their books. So maybe now there was demand for a new company that knew well in advance that it would not make much money but that could further its authors careers by promoting them more; that by avoiding Amazon.com (you pay taxes, right?) and by giving authors the largest share of the profits than the other trade companies…maybe what was needed was a company that was a true labor of love?
The need for a boutique trade publishing company like Neurodiversity Press had existed for some time. But now, within the void left so open, the idea was born.
Michael John Carley
Editor-in-Chief
Michael John Carley was named the Editor-in-Chief of Neurodiversity Press by Publisher, Jill Studnicki, on January 1, 2022.
“I was partially raised by my maternal grandparents. And my grandfather, who was a wonderful influence, was an almost lifelong editor after a short tenure as a journalist,” Carley stated. “I can remember in my theatre days—I in my 20s and he in his 80s—when he would come down to New York to see my shows. He’d join us at restaurants and bars, and all my friends loved him because they knew he was excited by what they were doing—they knew that someone that old wanted to learn from them. Well, I want to be like him, and no trade company will create better opportunities for young, neurodiverse authors, than Neurodiversity Press.”
Carley, Neurodiversity Press’s first author, is also a school consultant, and former Executive Director. He received his B.A. from Hampshire College and his M.F.A. from Columbia University. He currently runs the Connections program for New York University’s worldwide autistic students.
For more info on Carley you can go to his author page, his author website, or you can contact him at editor@neurodiversitypress.com.
