Download or read book Drama Queen One Autistic Woman and a Life of Unhelpful Labels written by Sara Gibbs and published by Headline. This book was released on 2021-06-24 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'It has taken me several years of exploration, but I am at a place now where I see autism as neither an affliction nor a superpower. It's just the blueprint for who I am. There is no cure, but that's absolutely fine by me. To cure me of my autism would be to cure me of myself.' During the first thirty years of her life, comedy script writer Sara Gibbs had been labelled a lot of things - a cry baby, a scaredy cat, a spoiled brat, a weirdo, a show off - but more than anything else, she'd been called a Drama Queen. No one understood her behaviour, her meltdowns or her intense emotions. She felt like everyone else knew a social secret that she hadn't been let in on; as if life was a party she hadn't been invited to. Why was everything so damn hard? Little did Sara know that, at the age of thirty, she would be given one more label that would change her life's trajectory forever. That one day, sitting next to her husband in a clinical psychologist's office, she would learn that she had never been a drama queen, or a weirdo, or a cry baby, but she had always been autistic. Drama Queen is both a tour inside one autistic brain and a declaration that a diagnosis on the spectrum, with the right support, accommodations and understanding, doesn't have to be a barrier to life full of love, laughter and success. It is the story of one woman trying to fit into a world that has often tried to reject her and, most importantly, it's about a life of labels, and the joy of ripping them off one by one.

Download or read book Drama Queen written by Sara Gibbs and published by Headline. This book was released on 2022-01-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Growing up Sara Gibbs was labelled a lot of things-- a cry baby, a scaredy cat, a spoiled brat, a weirdo, a show off-- but more often than not, it was 'drama queen'. No one understood her behaviour-- her meltdowns and her intense emotions-- while Sara herself had no idea why she felt as if life was a party she hadn't been invited to. Then, at the age of thirty, she would be given one more label that would change her life's trajectory forever. Sitting next to her husband in a clinical psychologist's office, she would learn that she had never been a drama queen, or a weirdo, or a cry baby, but she had always been autistic. Drama queen is both a tour inside one autistic brain and a declaration that a diagnosis on the spectrum, with the right support, accommodations and understanding, doesn't have to be a barrier to life full of love, laughter and success. It is the story of one woman trying to fit into a world that has often tried to reject her and, most importantly, it's about a life of labels, and the joy of ripping them off" -- Book jacket.

Download or read book Drama Queen One Autistic Woman and a Life of Unhelpful Labels written by Sara Gibbs and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2021-06-24 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'It has taken me several years of exploration, but I am at a place now where I see autism as neither an affliction nor a superpower. It's just the blueprint for who I am. There is no cure, but that's absolutely fine by me. To cure me of my autism would be to cure me of myself.' During the first thirty years of her life, comedy script writer Sara Gibbs had been labelled a lot of things - a cry baby, a scaredy cat, a spoiled brat, a weirdo, a show off - but more than anything else, she'd been called a Drama Queen. No one understood her behaviour, her meltdowns or her intense emotions. She felt like everyone else knew a social secret that she hadn't been let in on; as if life was a party she hadn't been invited to. Why was everything so damn hard? Little did Sara know that, at the age of thirty, she would be given one more label that would change her life's trajectory forever. That one day, sitting next to her husband in a clinical psychologist's office, she would learn that she had never been a drama queen, or a weirdo, or a cry baby, but she had always been autistic. Drama Queen is both a tour inside one autistic brain and a declaration that a diagnosis on the spectrum, with the right support, accommodations and understanding, doesn't have to be a barrier to life full of love, laughter and success. It is the story of one woman trying to fit into a world that has often tried to reject her and, most importantly, it's about a life of labels, and the joy of ripping them off one by one.

Download or read book Twirling Naked in the Streets and No One Noticed written by Jeannie Davide-Rivera and published by . This book was released on 2013-04-23 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jeannie grew up with autism, but no one around her knew it. Twirling Naked in the Streets will take you on a journey into the mind of a child on the autism spectrum; a child who grows into an adolescent, an adult, and becomes a wife, mother, student, and writer with autism. This is a gripping memoir of a quirky, weird, but gifted child who grows up never quite finding her niche. It took 38 years to discover that all the issues, problems, and weirdness she experienced were because she had Asperger's Syndrome (AS), a form of high-functioning autism. The tale begins at age three and takes us all the way through her diagnosis. Along the way she explains autism in a way that will have fellow "Aspies" crying tears of joy at being understood, and "neuro-typical" people really starting to grasp the challenges that autistic people face every moment of every day.

Download or read book Odd Girl Out written by Laura James and published by Seal Press. This book was released on 2018-03-27 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sensory portrait of an autistic mind From childhood, Laura James knew she was different. She struggled to cope in a world that often made no sense to her, as though her brain had its own operating system. It wasn't until she reached her forties that she found out why: Suddenly and surprisingly, she was diagnosed with autism. With a touching and searing honesty, Laura challenges everything we think we know about what it means to be autistic. Married with four children and a successful journalist, Laura examines the ways in which autism has shaped her career, her approach to motherhood, and her closest relationships. Laura's upbeat, witty writing offers new insight into the day-to-day struggles of living with autism, as her extreme attention to sensory detail--a common aspect of her autism--is fascinating to observe through her eyes. As Laura grapples with defining her own identity, she also looks at the unique benefits neurodiversity can bring. Lyrical and lush, Odd Girl Out shows how being different doesn't mean being less, and proves that it is never too late for any of us to find our rightful place in the world.

Download or read book I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder written by Sarah Kurchak and published by Douglas & McIntyre. This book was released on 2020-04-02 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sarah Kurchak is autistic. She hasn’t let that get in the way of pursuing her dream to become a writer, or to find love, but she has let it get in the way of being in the same room with someone chewing food loudly, and of cleaning her bathroom sink. In I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder, Kurchak examines the Byzantine steps she took to become “an autistic success story,” how the process almost ruined her life and how she is now trying to recover. Growing up undiagnosed in small-town Ontario in the eighties and nineties, Kurchak realized early that she was somehow different from her peers. She discovered an effective strategy to fend off bullying: she consciously altered nearly everything about herself—from her personality to her body language. She forced herself to wear the denim jeans that felt like being enclosed in a sandpaper iron maiden. Every day, she dragged herself through the door with an elevated pulse and a churning stomach, nearly crumbling under the effort of the performance. By the time she was finally diagnosed with autism at twenty-seven, she struggled with depression and anxiety largely caused by the same strategy she had mastered precisely. She came to wonder, were all those years of intensely pretending to be someone else really worth it? Tackling everything from autism parenting culture to love, sex, alcohol, obsessions and professional pillow fighting, Kurchak’s enlightening memoir challenges stereotypes and preconceptions about autism and considers what might really make the lives of autistic people healthier, happier and more fulfilling.

Download or read book Rebel Without a Minivan written by Tracy Beckerman and published by Cold Tree Press. This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tracy Beckerman is convinced she was abducted by aliens and dropped off in the suburbs of New Jersey. How else could she explain the fact that one minute she was a single city chick shopping sample sales, and the next, a married mother of two picking through garage sales? In this hilarious romp through the well-manicured lawns of suburbia, Beckerman takes on everyone from psycho mall moms to sinister cappuccino barristers, and proves you don't have to drive a minivan to make it it in the 'burbs. Straight from the pages of her hugely successful syndicated humor column, LOST IN SUBURBIA, Tracy Beckerman's Rebel without a Minivan is an irreverent and entertaining ride that will leave you snorting with laughter and cheering in the checkout aisles. Find out why ducks fear her, the DMV loathes her, and nearly a million readers of her column adore her. Read Tracy Beckerman's column, LOST IN SUBURBIA, at www.lostinsuburbia.net Tracy Beckerman is not just humorous. she is laugh-out-loud funny! Her columns are a great escape! -Suzette Martinez Standring, syndicated columnist and author of The Art of Column Writing: Insider Secrets from Art Buchwald, Dave Barry, Arianna Huffington, Pete Hamill and Other Great Columnists. In Rebel Without a Minivian, Tracy Beckerman has crafted a hilarious page-turner that captures the essence of what it's like to be a mom in the throes of an identity crisis. With a perfect blend of humor, wit, and sarcasm, Tracy's observations about her family, her foibles, and life in general give us all something to smile about. -Beth Feldman, founder of www.rolemommy.com and co-author of Peeing in Peace: Tales & Tips for Type A Moms

Download or read book How To Be Autistic written by Charlotte Amelia Poe and published by Myriad Editions. This book was released on 2019-09-19 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An urgent, funny, shocking, and impassioned memoir by the winner of the Spectrum Art Prize 2018, How To Be Autistic presents the rarely shown point of view of someone living with autism. Poe's voice is confident, moving and often funny, as she reveals to us a very personal account of autism, mental illness, gender and sexual identity. As we follow Charlotte's journey through school and college, we become as awestruck by her extraordinary passion for life as by the enormous privations that she must undergo to live it. From food and fandom, to body modification and comic conventions, Charlotte's experiences through the torments of schooldays and young adulthood leave us with a riot of conflicting emotions: horror, empathy, despair, laugh-out-loud amusement and, most of all, respect.

Download or read book Dear Brown Girl written by Karlicia Lewis and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-12-07 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What started as a simple collection of letters and reminders for my nieces increasingly grew into a heartfelt call of love and support to brown girls across the globe. These letters were no longer just reminders to my young nieces. They were a reality check to myself. They were speaking an emotional language to my own adult heart, and the conversation was long overdue. These were the motivating words often unspoken by our loved ones, and the "not so cookie cutter" life lessons our parents didn't always teach us, or let us overhear, due to the content being "too grown." So many of us have roughly fallen face first into tough circumstances we weren't prepared for. So many young girls are given the basics, yet sheltered from the topics and advice we truly need to be equipped with in the youth to young adult transition.This causes many to struggle with healing, maintaining healthy relationships, and self esteem, even in their adult years. My goal is to help change that narrative and begin a conversation that inspires growth, empowerment, and restoration in brown girls of all ages.

Download or read book Spectrum Women written by Barb Cook and published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. This book was released on 2018-08-21 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Barb Cook and 14 other autistic women describe life from a female autistic perspective, and present empowering, helpful and supportive insights from their personal experience for fellow autistic women. Michelle Garnett's comments validate and expand the experiences described from a clinician's perspective, and provide extensive recommendations. Autistic advocates including Liane Holliday Willey, Anita Lesko, Jeanette Purkis, Artemisia and Samantha Craft offer their personal guidance on significant issues that particularly affect women, as well as those that are more general to autism. Contributors cover issues including growing up, identity, diversity, parenting, independence and self-care amongst many others. With great contributions from exceptional women, this is a truly well-rounded collection of knowledge and sage advice for any woman with autism.

Download or read book My Son s Not Rainman written by John Williams and published by Michael O'Mara Books. This book was released on 2016-09-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This isn't a story about autism. It's a story about a young boy who happens to have autism, and there is a difference. John Williams is a stand-up comedian. He is also a single father and full-time carer for his son, who has autism and cerebral palsy. This is their incredible story. In 2012, John started a blog called My Son's Not Rainman, a heartfelt and uplifting account of everyday life for him and 'The Boy'. Following on from the blog's amazing success, John felt there was still much more of their life, past and present, that he wanted to share. And not only of the challenges of bringing up a child who for too long was just dismissed as 'difficult', but also of the joy of living with someone who looks at the world in a unique way. My Son's Not Rainman radiates warmth, care and passion, not to mention laugh-out-loud humour, on every page. It is a brilliantly different story about a brilliantly different boy.

Download or read book But You Don t Look Autistic at All written by Bianca Toeps and published by . This book was released on 2020-07-23 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Nerdy Shy and Socially Inappropriate written by Cynthia Kim and published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. This book was released on 2014-09-21 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cynthia Kim explores all the quirkyness of living with Asperger Syndrome (ASD) in this accessible, witty and honest guide looking from an insider perspective at some of the most challenging and intractable aspects of being autistic. Her own life presents many rich examples. From being labelled nerdy and shy as an undiagnosed child to redefining herself when diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome as an adult, she describes how her perspective shifted to understanding a previously confusing world and combines this with the results of extensive research to explore the 'why' of ASD traits. She explains how they impact on everything from self-care to holding down a job and offers typically practical and creative strategies to help manage them, including a section on the vestibular, sensory and social benefits of martial arts for people with autism. Well known in the autism community and beyond for her popular blog, Musings of an Aspie, Cynthia Kim's book is rich with personal anecdotes and useful advice. This intelligent insider guide will help adults with ASDs and their partners, family members, friends, and colleagues, but it also provides a fresh and witty window onto a different worldview.

Download or read book A Pony in the Bedroom written by Susan Dunne and published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. This book was released on 2015-04-21 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Susan Dunne's life changed forever when a chance question from a doctor led her back to horses, an unfulfilled childhood passion. Detached and isolated due to undiagnosed autism, Susan had already survived rape, battled eating disorders and self-harm, and spent time homeless, when her world was turned upside again by a vicious, life-threatening assault. Severe post-traumatic stress disorder left her feeling distrustful and more cut off than ever before from a world she saw as confusing and dangerous. But as Susan's connection with horses grew stronger, her world started to open up. Poignant and witty by turns, Susan shares her story of survival and transformation, offering a rare insight into her relationship with horses, and how they helped her to find a safe place in the world.

Download or read book The Queer Commons written by Gavin Butt and published by . This book was released on 2018-09-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The conventional idea of the commons--a resource managed by the community that uses it--might appear anachronistic as global capitalism attempts to privatize and commodify social life. Against these trends, contemporary queer energies have been directed toward commons-forming initiatives from activist provision of social services to the maintenance of networks around queer art, protest, public sex, and bar cultures that sustain queer lives otherwise marginalized by heteronormative society and mainstream LGBTQ politics. This issue forges a connection between the common and the queer, asking how the category "queer" might open up a discourse that has emerged as one of the most important challenges to contemporary neoliberalization at both the theoretical and practical level. Contributors look to radical networks of care, sex, and activism present within diverse queer communities including HIV/AIDS organizing, the Wages for Housework movement, New York's Clit Club community, and trans/queer collectives in San Francisco. The issue also includes a dossier of shorter contributions that offer speculative provocations about the radicalism of queer commonality across time and space, from Gezi Park uprisings in Turkey to future visions of collectivity outside of the internet. Contributors Arlen Austin, Zach Blas, Gavin Butt, Beth Capper, Ashon Crawley, Amalle Dublon, Macarena Gomez-Barris, Christina Hanhardt, Diarmuid Hester, Nadja Millner-Larsen, José Esteban Muñoz, Cenk Ozbay, Evren Savci, Eric Stanley

Download or read book Women with Autism written by Claire Jack, PH D and published by . This book was released on 2021-04-16 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Internationally acclaimed life coach, Dr. Claire Jack, draws on her extensive experience of working with women with autism, in addition to her personal experience as a woman with autism, to help you shape the life you deserve. This book takes you through the stages you might encounter in coming to terms with your autism - from fear to relief, shame to self-validation, confusion to excitement - so that you can lead a life which respects and celebrates your unique needs. Do you want to continue living a life which is just ok? Or do you deserve to live a life which allows you to embrace your true self? If "ok" isn't enough any more, this book will support you in creating the changes you desire. So many women with autism spend their lives masking, or camouflaging, their autistic symptoms that they lose their sense of self. This book helps you accept yourself, as you are, and move towards a point of authenticity. After a lifetime of feeling confused, emotionally overwhelmed, socially awkward and being considered "odd" by others, many women become so good at camouflaging that they forget who they are and what they need from life. They may suffer from low self-esteem, anxiety, depression and self-sabotaging coping mechanisms. Masking seems like a common sense approach to pass as "normal", but the cost is huge. This book explores what it is to live in a world where you stop trying to be that square peg fitting into a round hole, and explore how you can make the hole fit your needs instead. From mundane everyday decisions to life changing choices, you'll learn how to create a world in which you and others value you. This book takes you on a journey, from exploring how and why you might choose to seek out a diagnosis, to how to nurture your unique autistic brain with passions and interests, to how to create healthy social boundaries and develop emotional regulation strategies. You're provided with exercises which encourage you to think about what autism means to you and how you can practically apply what you've learned. Throughout, you're provided with insights into the experiences of the many inspirational women I have worked with who, like you, have faced considerable challenges in their lives and who have been determined to turning their lives around.

Download or read book Watching the English written by Kate Fox and published by Nicholas Brealey. This book was released on 2014-07-08 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Updated, with new research and over 100 revisions Ten years later, they're still talking about the weather! Kate Fox, the social anthropologist who put the quirks and hidden conditions of the English under a microscope, is back with more biting insights about the nature of Englishness. This updated and revised edition of Watching the English - which over the last decade has become the unofficial guidebook to the English national character - features new and fresh insights on the unwritten rules and foibles of "squaddies," bikers, horse-riders, and more. Fox revisits a strange and fascinating culture, governed by complex sets of unspoken rules and bizarre codes of behavior. She demystifies the peculiar cultural rules that baffle us: the rules of weather-speak. The ironic-gnome rule. The reflex apology rule. The paranoid pantomime rule. Class anxiety tests. The roots of English self-mockery and many more. An international bestseller, Watching the English is a biting, affectionate, insightful and often hilarious look at the English and their society.