Overview

This is the first of three volumes of autobiobraphy in which Donna Williams recounts her struggle with autism. She describes the desolation of the first 25 years of her life, before discovering the word ""autism"" - a label which brought withit some answers and the hope of a sense of belonging. ""Somebody Somewhere: Breaking Free from the World of Autism"" (1-85302-719-7) and ""Like Colour to the Blind : Soul Searching and Soul Finding"" (1-85302-720-0) take up Donna's story at the point at which this volume leaves off.

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9781853027185

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Reviews

Nobody Nowhere tears aside the veil that conceals the mind of the autistic person. Donna Williams' account has the magnetic and unrivalled power of authenticity... this book is absorbing, disturbing, enriching and it will cause many to substantially revise their views of what it is that constitutes psychological normality. -- Professor Anthony Clare This was an interesting account of Donna's life and how she dealt with the outside world and intertwined her three personalities to cope. I feel this is a worthwhile read for any parent or relative of an autistic person. Teachers and psychologists as well as therapists would better understand how an autistic person sees themselves. -- BellaOnline Reviews Donna Williams isn't just teaching us what it is like to be autistic, she is teaching us what it is like to be human. -- The New York Times Book Review It really is an amazing, engaging autobiography of a fascinating individual. Whether you are familiar with autism first-hand or not, you will have a difficult time putting this book down, I can assure you. -- Autism Cafe.

The singular battle of an autistic woman to connect with out there - the world and the people outside her frightened self. From birth, autistics exhibit, among other symptoms, extreme lack of emotional response, repetitive behavior, and speech that mirrors what is being said to them. The symptoms mask what is often average or above-average intelligence, a conflict leading to rage, destructive behavior, and often, in children, to institutionalization. Williams believes that she was able to emerge from her autistic fortress in large part because of - ironically - her abusive mother. As a little girl, she warded off her mother's physical and verbal blows by assuming personalities that were acceptable to the outside world. Although her emotional core remained untouched most of the time, the need to act normal prevented her from totally retreating into a world where gentleness, kindness and affection had no part. Williams's role-playing helped her to get through school, including college, to get jobs and lovers, and finally to accept and give - on a limited basis - affection in her own person, as Donna. Fragmented and emotionally distant ( Welcome to my world, says Williams), the author's story offers insight into the autistic experience. The last chapters address specifically why typical autistic behavior, such as switching lights on and off, is comforting. How to deal with autistics? Through psychological warfare, Williams says, though that warfare must be waged with patience and a plan. A recounting of an amazing struggle that will help the frustrated parents, teachers, and clinicians understand more clearly what those unresponsive dead eyes see. A worthy complement to Judy and Sean Barron's There's a Boy in Here (p. 83). (Kirkus Reviews)

Nobody Nowhere offers a fascinating testimony to an intelligence undimmed by mental turmoil. <br> -The New York Times Book Review <br> A penetrating view of the radically different world that many autistic people inhabit. <br> -Maclean's <p> From the Trade Paperback edition.

Author Information

Donna Williams was born in Australia in 1963 and raised in a working-class inner-city area in Australia. She grew up hearing words such as `deaf', `disturbed', `crazy' and `spastic', and like many able people with autism born in the 1960s and earlier, she was wasn't formally diagnosed with autism until adulthood. As well as writing, composing, painting and sculpting, she lectured and ran workshops on autism all around the world.

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