Don’t fear death…it is just the body evicting its TENANT… we never owned these houses, our biological mechanisms did… we rent space, pay for it with food, drink, warmth in caring for our host… the body Read the rest of this entry »
Coles and Woolworths are Australia’s largest poker machine merchants, reaping mega profits from the misery of Australians whilst posing as ‘family friendly’ supermarkets. Read the rest of this entry »
Most people will experience the loss of their mother at some point in their lives and most will cry at the loss of someone they at least at some time in their life, bonded with. Read the rest of this entry »
As an autism consultant with an encyclopedic mind for systems and lists of information I often found myself perceived as something of a walking textbook, a mine of information. Read the rest of this entry »
Hanging out with Anne Mc Donald
Following Andrew Rule’s feature on the relationship between Rosemary Crossley and Anne McDonald in the Herald Sun in recent weeks, Crossley and her supporters want to set the record straight. Read the rest of this entry »
When my first book, Nobody Nowhere, became a major international bestseller, my Australian publisher, Doubleday received a submission from Chris Eipper for his fiction novel he was hoping to get a publisher for. His submission was rejected. I then received a letter from him via my UK publisher (I was now living in the UK) informing me that he was involving himself as a researcher in my case. I also received copies of letters he sent to each of my publishers and to the multitude of journalists who had interviewed me. I also heard from Autism Victoria that he had contacted them to try and discuss my diagnosis with them. Read the rest of this entry »
I remember one night when three of us, me, my husband Chris Samuel, and a friend of ours Kieran, went to dinner at Rosemary Crossley’s house. Rosemary and her partner, Chris B were always great hosts but for me, I felt most compatible with Anne. Anne was feisty, cheeky, star of the flooring one liner. She was an egalitarian, who wouldn’t be having been dumped since age three to spend up to the age of 18 in a Victorian style institution deemed severely retarded where she almost starved to death. It would make any of us rather political, if of course were were credited with the intelligence to be so. Read the rest of this entry »
Finally, 16 years of public image damage since the defamatory ABC interview by Kathy Gollan which was initiated by Chris Eipper, the second of the two ‘experts’ who had backed them, US Autism expert, Dr Kathleen Dillon, sent me a retraction. My Wikipedia page continues to stain my reputation with the defamation they started and the hate that continues to inspire, and it seems that will be my legacy. But perhaps the day after I announced I’m retiring, this retraction was at least ‘something’:
Hi Donna,
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to reply.
Not having ever met you in 1996, I was giving my opinion to questions posed to me in a radio interview based on what I had read by and about you at that time. I did not presume to have been able to provide you with a diagnosis.
Much has changed in the field of autism from 1996 to 2012. Although it remains the same that I have never met you and can only offer you, as before, my opinion. In my judgment today, your presentation then and now is much more consistent with those who currently identify themselves as on the autism spectrum. From your autobiographical information, you appear to have had a very complicated history of unfortunate events happen to you regardless of how anyone chooses to label you and yet you have managed to have many accomplishments. For that you are to be commended. I wish you only the best in the future.Sincerely,
Kathleen Dillon
Send in The Clowns (from Wikipedia):
The “clowns” in the title do not refer to circus clowns. Instead, they symbolize fools, as Sondheim explained in a 1990 interview: I wanted to use theatrical imagery in the song, because she’s an actress, but it’s not supposed to be a ‘circus’…. It’s a theater reference meaning ‘if the show isn’t going well, let’s send in the clowns’; in other words, ‘let’s do the jokes.'[1]
Donna Williams, BA Hons, Dip Ed.
Author, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter.
Autism consultant and public speaker.
http://www.donnawilliams.net
I acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Owners of this country throughout Australia, and their connection to land and community.
I was diagnosed as psychotic at the age of 2 in 1965 when autism was known as Childhood Psychosis. I grew up in the 60s and 70s. We had KFC and my father had no shame of taking me in there to get our dinner for the night. But the franchises really hadn’t taken off until the mid-late 70s in Australia. By then I was in late childhood. Read the rest of this entry »
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 .
