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Adult Aspie Autobiographies

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I've been trying to put together a list of autobiographies written by adult aspies - this is my list so far - are there any obvious ones I'm missing? I know there are a couple about people who claim to be cured that I've left off - these weren't what I was looking for.

 

**Born on a Blue Day (Daniel Tammet)

 

**Send in the Idiots (Kamran Nazeer)

 

Wired-Up Wrong - Asperger Syndrome, 'Normal', and Me (Neil Shepherd)

 

Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism (Dawn Prince-Hughes)

 

Emergence: Labeled Autistic (Temple Grandin)

 

**Thinking in Pictures (Temple Grandin)

 

Nobody Nowhere: The Remarkable Autobiography of an Autistic Girl (Donna Williams)

 

**Somebody Somewhere: Breaking Free from the World of Autism (Donna Williams)

 

**Pretending to be Normal: Living with Asperger's Syndrome (Liane Holliday Willey)

 

The Real Rain Man, Kim Peek (Kim Peek & Fran Peek)

 

Eye Contact (Cammie McGovern)

 

Mozart and the Whale: An Asperger's Love Story (Jerry & Mary Newport)

 

Asperger Syndrome: My Puzzle (Gay Eastoe)

 

My Asperger Soul (Darlynne Worsham)

 

Aspie: Memoirs on the Blessings and Burdens of Asperger's Syndrome (John Olson)

Edited by Mumble

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L has quite a collection of biographies - I'll have a look through her bookcase when I get a chance this weekend, and if there are any others I'll post them here. :)

 

K x

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Mumble, Have you read all of these ?

 

Im looking for a good aspie autobiographie, is there a particuliar one you would recommend ?? :)

I've edited my original post to star the ones I would recommend of those I've read - Neil I haven't read yours yet which is why it isn't starred - not because I don't recommend it!!

 

Just an observation - of those I've found, more than half are by women, despite the dx prevelence of AS being 1:10 female:male - anyone any ideas why this may be? :unsure:

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I agree with you about Send in the Idiots. It's the best I've read so far and Liane Holliday Willey is very readable.

 

Donna Williams is fascinating but sometimes I find her ideas and experiences difficult to grasp - which may be my failing rather than hers.

 

I've wondered too why there are more bio's written by women than men. Perhaps it's because women in general are more adept at reflecting on their feelings and experiences and putting them into words?

 

K x

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These are all on my To Be Read list, but I've missed off the ones Mumble already listed, so these are probably a bit more obscure.

 

Cammie McGovern's Eye Contact isn't an autobiography though, it is a novel featuring an autistic child. I would recommend it though!

 

Wendy Lawson - Behind Glass

 

Nita Jackson - Standing Down Falling Up

 

Jessica Peers - Asparagus Dreams

 

Robert S Sanders JR - On My Own Terms

 

Lucy Blackman - Lucy's Story

 

Gunilla Gerland - A Real Person

 

Chris and Gisela Slater-Walker - An Asperger Marriage (kind of autobiographical)

 

Jerry and Mary Newport - Mozart and the Whale

 

Will Hadcroft - The Feeling's Unmutual

 

Alison Hale - My World is not Your World

 

Chris Mitchell - Glass Half Empty, Glass Half Full

 

Tito Rajarshi Mukhopadhyay - Beyond Silence: My Life, My World and Autism

 

Caiseal Mor - A Blessing and a Curse: Autism and Me

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The one that sticks in my mind is Songs of the Gorilla Nation. It had me in tears but was sooo positive ultimately.

 

And you learn a lot about gorillas too!

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Thanks for all these - there are quite a few, aren't there :clap: Tally when you've read some of your list, any recommendations would be great :thumbs:

 

Pearl I'll put Songs of the Gorrilla Nation on my list to santa - I was a bit unsure about it - I think because the only film I was ever emotionally affected by as a child (yes, I was still a child when it was shown) was 'Gorillas in the Mist' about Dian Fossey so I've avoided gorillery things since :rolleyes:

 

The Freaks and Geeks one is good Daisy - the only reason I left it off was because I was looking for adult ones (particularly un-dx until adulthood and looking back as I can relate to these more easily) :)

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It is a very moving book, Mumble, she went through all sorts of trauma as a young adult but came through in the end. And yes, the gorilla parts are just :tearful: . Her affinity with gorillas reminded me of Temple Grandin's affinity with cattle - and I have wondered in the past about the possible Aspie-ness of these single minded, dedicated women like Jane Goodall & Dian Fossey who broke the mould & made such advances in their fields.

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I've read Behind Glass by Wendy Lawson, and found it very moving. I have also seen her give a talk - again, extremely moving, sad at times but also shows how strong a person she is.

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I recently read Wendy Lawson’s “Understanding and working with the spectrum of Autism – an insider’s view” and sobbed buckets, especially when I read the comments made by her teachers on her school report. :(

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Congratulations! It's Asperger syndrome by Jen Birch

Managing with Asperger Syndrome by Malcolm Johnson

Women from Another Planet (anthology)

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Thanks for that list, Mumble - hopefully I'll get round to reading some of those.

 

If you want to include books on other neuro-diversities, there's Victoria Biggs' Caged in Chaos: A Dyspraxic Guide to Breaking Free. Dyspraxia is in a lot of ways similar to autism.

 

Yes, I've also noticed women authors of these books are over-represented, and I agree it's probably because women tend to respond more positively to such problems. Too many men are inclined to try to mask it by trying to make excuses or taking a 'don't care' attitude. They should try emulating their female counterparts.

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Mind you, before all the women get too smug, I've met plenty of (non-Aspie) women who are very negative about their problems - living in constant self-pity and always thinking they have to blame every problem they have on someone.

Edited by Eccentric

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Watch this space for mine....! :thumbs:

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Someone who purported to know the right people at Jessica Kingsley publishers suggested to me that I should write my autobiography. I wasn't too keen - seems like a surefire way to alienate everyone I've ever known. :unsure:

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Hi

 

Don't know if anyone remembers TheNeil. Haven't seen any posts from him in a very long time, but he was an adult with AS who'd written a book called Wired-Up Wrong (Neil Shepherd). I really can't review it as I must have read it a good while ago and don't recall much.

 

Agree that Send in the idiots is a great book!

 

Caroline.

Edited by cmuir

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Congratulations! It's Asperger syndrome by Jen Birch

Managing with Asperger Syndrome by Malcolm Johnson

Women from Another Planet (anthology)

 

Congratulations it's Aspergers was my favourite. Quite similar to my life, so maybe that is why I enjoyed it.

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One book I enjoyed is called "Aspergers - If You Only Knew: A Family's Struggle with Asperger's Syndrome" by Sophia Summers.

Essentially about how the author puts many of her own struggles and issues into perspective after her child is diagnosed as being on the spectrum.

 

It's a paperback, quite an easy read. I found it very engaging and would recommend it to others.

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Living through the haze life on the autistic spectrum- paul isaac. He talks about his life past experiences he has been through from bullying to getting a diagnose of High functioning autism

 

- Aspergirls - Rudy Syndrome

 

A guide to the GF/CF for autism, aspergers syndrome and ADHD - Luke Jackson

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