Skip to main content

BOOKS BY PEOPLE WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS Commentary and lists by A M Baggs

Despite what Tony Attwood says in the introduction to Lucy's Story (1999), Lucy's book is not the first nor the only book by a person who has never used speech. In fact, the apparent first *ever* book by an autistic person was calledUnderstand: Fifty Memowriter Poems (1985), by David Eastham [of Ottawa, Canada], who never used speech. Other books, published by 1999 by people who had not used speech are Forever Friends (David Eastham, 1990), A Child of Eternity (Adriana Rocha and Kristi Jorde, 1995, admittedly nonsensical), I Don't Want To Be Inside Me Anymore (Birger Sellin, transl. 1995); In Dark Hours I Find My Way (Birger Sellin, transl. 1995); I Had No Means to Shout! (Charles Martel Hale Jr., 1999) Through the Eyes of Aliens by Jasmine Lee O'Neill was written in 1998 by someone who, while she has used speech, does no longer.
As to the impression that more books are published by female authors with autism than male authors: 
Despite appearances, there are actually both more male autistic authors out there and more books by autistic male authors.  Only slightly, but still more.  Books by male autistic authors are, however, more likely to be written through facilitated communication (which many people thus
don't read or hear of) and more likely to go out of print.  If you factor in FC and staying in print, *then* there are more books by female autistic authors (which almost never go out of print).  The problem  is not one of books *existing*, but of books being widely distributed and read.
 

List of autistic authors and their books, sorted by gender 
The authors are numbered, and their books are also numbered.  It will be noticable that there are slightly more autistic male authors than autistic female authors, and slightly more books as well. This is true even if you eliminate forthcoming books and Stephen Wiltshire's art (I included him because I think drawing is as valid a communication method as any other).
 

*******
FEMALE:
*******

1. Jen Birch
        f1. Congratulations! It's Asperger Syndrome (2003)  (Forthcoming)

2. Lucy Blackman
       f2. Lucy's Story: Autism and Other Adventures (1999)

3. Jennifer Fan
       f3. Cinderella With Wrong Shoes: Poems by a Young Woman with Autism (2001, with Autumn Fan)

4. Gunilla Gerland
       f4. A Real Person: Life on the Outside (1996) - translated from Swedish, En riktig människa, by Joan Tate
       f5. Finding Out About Asperger's Syndrome, High Functioning Autism and PDD - translated from Swedish,Det är bra att fråga... om Asperger syndrom och högfungerande autism (1997)

5. Temple Grandin
       f6. Emergence: Labeled Autistic (1986)
       f7. Thinking in Pictures and Other Reports from My Life With Autism (1995)

6. Alison Hale
       f8. My World Is Not Your World (1998)

7. Ppinder Hundal (Forthcoming)
        f9. "now you know me think more": A Journey with Autism using Facilitated Communication Techniques (2003) - with Pauline Lukey

8. Nita Jackson
       f10. Standing Down, Falling Up: Asperger's Syndrome from the Inside Out (2002)

9. Therese Joliffe
        f11. Autism: A Personal Account (year unknown)

10. Wendy Lawson
       f12. Life Behind Glass: A Personal Account of Autism Spectrum Disorder (1998)
       f13. Understanding and Working with the Spectrum of Autism: An Insider's View (2001)

11. Mary Newport
       f14. Autism - Asperger's and Sexuality: Puberty and Beyond (2002) - with Jerry Newport

12. Jasmine Lee O'Neill
       f15. Through the Eyes of Aliens: A Book About Autistic People (1998)

13. Dawn Prince-Hughes
        f16. Aquamarine Blue 5: Personal Stories of College Students with Autism (2002) - editor
        f17. Songs of the Gorilla Nation: An Autistic Person's Emergence among an Ancient People (2004) - memoir not yet published, slated for 2004

14. Adriana Rocha
       f18. A Child of Eternity: An Extraordinary Young Girl's Message from the World Beyond (1995) - with Kristi Jorde 

15. Clare Sainsbury
        f19. Martian in the Playground: Understanding the Schoolchild with Asperger's Syndrome (2000)

16. Georgiana Thomas
        f20. Overcoming Autism (year unknown)

17. Liane Holliday Willey
       f21. Pretending To Be Normal: Living with Asperger's Syndrome (1999)
       f22. Asperger Syndrome in the Family: Redefining Normal (2001)
       f23. Asperger Syndrome in Adolescence: Living with the Ups, the Downs and Things in Between(forthcoming)

18. Donna Williams
       f24. Nobody Nowhere: The Extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic (1992)
       f25. Somebody Somewhere: Breaking Free from the World of Autism (1993)
       f26. Not Just Anything: A Collection of Thoughts on Paper (1995)
       f27. Like Color to the Blind: Soul Searching and Soul Finding (1996)
       f28. Autism - An Inside Out Approach: An innovative look at the mechanics of 'autism' and its developmental 'cousins' (1996)
       f29. Autism and Sensing: The Unlost Instinct (1998)
       f30. Exposure Anxiety - The Invisible Cage: An Exploration of Self-Protection Response in the Autism Spectrum (2002)
 

*******
MALE
*******

1. Sean Barron
        m1. There's A Boy In Here (1992) - with Judy Barron

2. John Brine
        m2. Confusion, Loneliness, Depression: Asperger's Syndrome - A Journey (2000) - with Patricia Brine

3. David Eastham
        m3. Understand: Fifty Memowriter Poems (1985)
        m4. Forever Friends (1990, posthumous)

4. Lincoln Grigsby
        m5. The Light Within (2001)

5. Charles Martel Hale, Jr.
        m6. I Had No Means to Shout! (1999) - with Mary Jane Hale

6. Kenneth Hall
        m7. Asperger Syndrome, the Universe, and Everything (2001)

7. Luke Jackson
        m8. A User Guide to the GF/CF Diet for Autism, Asperger Syndrome and AD/HD (2001) - appendices by Jacqui Jackson
        m9. Freaks, Geeks and Asperger Syndrome: A User Guide to Adolescence (2002)

8. Patrick McCabe
        m10. Living and Loving with Asperger Syndrome - with Estelle and Jared McCabe

9. Thomas A. McKean
        m11. Soon Will Come the Light: A View from Inside the Autism Puzzle (1994)
        m12. Light on the Horizon: A Deeper View Inside the Autism Puzzle (1996)

10. Desmond Meldrum
        m13. Growing Up With Asperger Syndrome (1994)
        m14. Coping with Asperger Syndrome (1997)
        m15. The Asperger Experience (1999)

11. Roger Meyer
        m16.  Asperger Syndrome Employment Workbook: An Employment Workbook for Adults with Asperger Syndrome (2001)

12. David Miedzianik
        m17.  My Autobiography (1986)
        m18.  Now All I've Got Left Is Myself (1996 is my estimate of the *latest* date probable)
        m19.  Taking the Load off My Mind (1996 is my estimate of the *latest* date probable)

13. Tito R. Mukhopadhyay
        m20. Beyond the Silence: My Life, the World and Autism (2000)

14. Jerry Newport
        m21. Your Life Is Not a Label: A Guide to Living Fully with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome for Parents, Professionals and You! (2001)
        m22. Autism - Asperger's and Sexuality: Puberty and Beyond (2002) - with Mary Newport

15. Tomas S. Page
        m23. Caught Between Two Worlds: My Autistic Dilemma (2002)

16. Chammi Rajapatirana
        m24. The Vial (2002)

17. Craig Romkema
        m25. Embracing the Sky: Poems Beyond Disability

18. Edgar Schneider
        m26. Discovering My Autism: Apologia Pro Vita Sua (With Apologies to Cardinal Newman) (1999)
        m27. Living the Good Life with Autism (2003) - Forthcoming

19. Marc Segar
        m28. Coping: A Survival Guide for People with Asperger Syndrome (1997)

20. Birger Sellin
        m29. I Don't Want To Be Inside Me Anymore: Messages From An Autistic Mind (1995) - translated from German, Ich will kein inmich mehr sein, botschaften aus einem autistischen kerker (1993), by Anthea Bell
        m30. In Dark Hours I Find My Way: Messages From An Autistic Mind (1995) - possibly translated from the same book (1993) - note that he did write two books *in German* (other is "Ich deserteur einer artigen autistenrasse" - neue botschaften an das volk der oberwelt), there are 2 published in English, so I counted him as "2 books"

21. Stephen Shore
        m31. Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome (2001)

22. Christopher Slater-Walker
        m32. An Asperger Marriage (2002) - with Gisela Slater-Walker

23. William Stillman
        m33. Demystifying the Autistic Experience: A Humanistic Introduction for Parents, Caregivers, and Educators (2002)

25. Stephen Wiltshire
        m34. Drawings (1985)
        m35. Cities (1987)
        m36. Floating Cities (1991)
        m37. Stephen Wiltshire's American Dream (1993)

 


Sincerely, Emma

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

wax green beans

• 1 1⁄4 lbs fresh yellow wax beans • 2 tablespoons butter • 1⁄4cup crushed Ritz crackers or 1⁄4cup townhouse cracker (about 6 crackers) • salt & freshly ground black pepper • Cook beans in salted boiling water until soft (not crispy) tender and drain. • Add butter and mix until butter melts. • Add cracker crumbs, salt and pepper, stir to combine and serve.