In 1996 my first text book, Autism; An Inside Out Approach was published, in which I discussed strategies for meaning deafness, meaning blindness, lack of body connectedness and lacking simultaneous processing of a sense of self and other. To most people, that may sound like something from a Sci Fi novel, but in my world it’s just part of everyday life.
I recently heard from a blind woman on the autism spectrum who was looking forward to meeting me. I found her perspective on her ASD interesting so thought to share how our dialogue went. Here it is….
Donna Williams is an Australian born adult with autism who was assessed as psychotic at the age of 2 in 1965, labelled disturbed in the 1970s and diagnosed as autistic in her 20s in 1991.
She acquired functional speech in late childhood and went on to become a qualified teacher with an honors degree in Sociology and a degree in Linguistics. She is the author of two international bestselling autobiographies and has 10 published books including 4 text books widely used in autism education and two books of poetry and prose.
As a screenwriter, she wrote the screenplay to “Nobody Nowhere”, the first book in her 4 book autobiographical series. That screenplay is currently under option to become a Hollywood film. She is an professional artist, singer-songwriter and published poet as well as a world renowned public speaker on autism now living with her husband in Australia. In her presentations she draws not only on her own experiences but on international experience as a professional autism consultant since 1996.
Donna’s is a speaker in demand around the world due to her unique perspective and ability to share her feelings and experiences on a very personal level. More information about her and her life’s work can be found on her website at http://www.donnawilliams.net .