Nobody Nowhere : The Extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic

Rating:
Summary: More informative than any book written by a professional.
Review: Although informative, I found this book incredibly depressing and found other books much more hopeful of the possibility of a happy life for my child. I would not consider this book to be a good first read for a family just diagnosed.

Rating:
Summary: Nobody Nowhere: The Extraordinary Autobiograph
Review: Although informative, I found this book incredibly depressing and found other books much more hopeful of the possibility of a happy life for my child. I would not consider this book to be a good first read for a family just diagnosed.

Rating:
Summary: Autism from the inside
Review: Autism is a disorder which prevents the sufferer from relating normally to other people. Autistics generally have trouble making any sense of the world around them. Theories of autism have ranged from 'it's all the parents' fault' to 'brain damage at birth'. Theories have been two a penny because autistics could not communicate their agreement or disagreement. Now, astonishingly, Donna Williams has. Although autistic, she has managed to overcome her disability sufficiently to tell her life story, and explain why autistics act as they do. As a parent of a child with a mild autistic disorder I found it a revealing insight into an otherwise closed world

Rating:
Summary: 6 years ago, self-recognition. Now, mixed thoughts.
Review: Because this was the first book I read on autism, it will always have a special place for me. I had always heard that autism meant "being in one's own world". Being autistic and fairly literal myself when it came to language, I had interpreted this to mean that an autistic person was on another planet -- that their senses might be perceiving the environment of Jupiter or Saturn, while their body was on the earth. I now realize what an autistic reaction this was! When I saw in the library that an autistic person had written a book, I wondered how a person who thought she was on another planet could manage a typewriter. So I read it.

I was quite surprised. Not only was this person not believing she was on another planet, but she was describing sensory and cognitive experiences, as well as actions, that I had on a regular basis. This was one of the first books that made me realize that there were other people out there like me. Before this, I had never given much thought to the fact that books tended to be written from a point of view extremely different to mine. I thought it was just a quality that books had. It took reading this to realize that this was because most people experienced the world differently from me. This book was somewhat difficult to follow at times, but I focussed in on many of the details that were similar to my life, and was amazed that someone had written about them. Some of them were things so private I felt a bit violated, and it still continues to hit home in ways that many autism books don't.

That all happened six years before I wrote this review. A lot has happened since then, and I have learned more about myself and the way I experience the world. I have met and read other autistic people besides Donna Williams. Each time I read the book, I find myself identifying more with certain specific sensory experiences and actions conveyed and less with the view of the world in general and of autism in particular. Even my interpretations of these same sensory experiences and actions would sometimes differ greatly between my own views and many of the views expressed in the book. For instance, she describes dropping things repetitively as a symbolic act related to freedom, while I would do it for the sheer sensory fun of watching the thing drop.

I think that for me, as for many autistic people, this book was a revealing introduction to others like me. It is common that this is the first book by an autistic person that a person will run across, and is our first experience of self-recognition in another person. In that sense, it was very useful. But it was only a beginning, and I have since found myself drifting away from this book, recommending it less to people and recommending other books more.

I think it is a very good description of the life of one autistic person, as viewed through a lens different than mine in some respects. The experiences are similar; some interpretations are different.

I also think it is a good description of someone being forced against her will to take on an act of normalcy in a world where being autistic is not valued. I also think it is an excellent book for a description of abuse from an autistic perspective, and having experienced abuse myself I could relate to some of the descriptions. Abuse of autistic people, sometimes through sadism and sometimes in the name of "helping", is a problem that cannot safely be ignored, and too few people write about it. She writes about both kinds.

I also think that the interpretations she gives to autism are specific to her, which is common in autistic authors -- I would not, for instance, characterize much of my life by a malfunction related to emotion, but she does. She appears to believe at the time of writing that it is central to being autistic, while I have known plenty of autistic people who do not have this particular problem.

So my thoughts on this book are mixed. I remember it as a good beginning, but I have grown into a very different interpretation of the world than this book gives. If I recommended this book, I would recommend reading several other books and articles by different autistic people, along with it. I personally keep this book on my shelf with all the other books by autistic people, both because it was the first I found and as a reminder of the existence and diversity of other autistic people.

Rating:
Summary: 6 years ago, self-recognition. Now, mixed thoughts.
Review: Because this was the first book I read on autism, it will always have a special place for me. I had always heard that autism meant "being in one's own world". Being autistic and fairly literal myself when it came to language, I had interpreted this to mean that an autistic person was on another planet -- that their senses might be perceiving the environment of Jupiter or Saturn, while their body was on the earth. I now realize what an autistic reaction this was! When I saw in the library that an autistic person had written a book, I wondered how a person who thought she was on another planet could manage a typewriter. So I read it.

I was quite surprised. Not only was this person not believing she was on another planet, but she was describing sensory and cognitive experiences, as well as actions, that I had on a regular basis. This was one of the first books that made me realize that there were other people out there like me. Before this, I had never given much thought to the fact that books tended to be written from a point of view extremely different to mine. I thought it was just a quality that books had. It took reading this to realize that this was because most people experienced the world differently from me. This book was somewhat difficult to follow at times, but I focussed in on many of the details that were similar to my life, and was amazed that someone had written about them. Some of them were things so private I felt a bit violated, and it still continues to hit home in ways that many autism books don't.

That all happened six years before I wrote this review. A lot has happened since then, and I have learned more about myself and the way I experience the world. I have met and read other autistic people besides Donna Williams. Each time I read the book, I find myself identifying more with certain specific sensory experiences and actions conveyed and less with the view of the world in general and of autism in particular. Even my interpretations of these same sensory experiences and actions would sometimes differ greatly between my own views and many of the views expressed in the book. For instance, she describes dropping things repetitively as a symbolic act related to freedom, while I would do it for the sheer sensory fun of watching the thing drop.

I think that for me, as for many autistic people, this book was a revealing introduction to others like me. It is common that this is the first book by an autistic person that a person will run across, and is our first experience of self-recognition in another person. In that sense, it was very useful. But it was only a beginning, and I have since found myself drifting away from this book, recommending it less to people and recommending other books more.

I think it is a very good description of the life of one autistic person, as viewed through a lens different than mine in some respects. The experiences are similar; some interpretations are different.

I also think it is a good description of someone being forced against her will to take on an act of normalcy in a world where being autistic is not valued. I also think it is an excellent book for a description of abuse from an autistic perspective, and having experienced abuse myself I could relate to some of the descriptions. Abuse of autistic people, sometimes through sadism and sometimes in the name of "helping", is a problem that cannot safely be ignored, and too few people write about it. She writes about both kinds.

I also think that the interpretations she gives to autism are specific to her, which is common in autistic authors -- I would not, for instance, characterize much of my life by a malfunction related to emotion, but she does. She appears to believe at the time of writing that it is central to being autistic, while I have known plenty of autistic people who do not have this particular problem.

So my thoughts on this book are mixed. I remember it as a good beginning, but I have grown into a very different interpretation of the world than this book gives. If I recommended this book, I would recommend reading several other books and articles by different autistic people, along with it. I personally keep this book on my shelf with all the other books by autistic people, both because it was the first I found and as a reminder of the existence and diversity of other autistic people.

Rating:
Summary: GOOD BUT NOT THE BEST
Review: DONNA WILLIAMS TELLS ABOUT HER LIFE A HFA9HIGH FUNTICTION AUTISC) I PREFER TEMPELE GRANDIN BOOKS BUT THIS IS PRETTY GOODY TOO. I FEEL BAD FROM DONNA BECAUSE SHE ALREADY A SO MUCH TROUBLE AS AKID THEN SHE WAS ABUSED BY HER MOM.ANOTER BOOK I READ SAID THAT DONNA WAS NOT AUTISTIC BUT WAS SUFFER FORM THE AFTREMATH OF ABUSE. EVEN IF THATS TRUE HICH IT HINK ITS NOT ITS STILL A GOOD BOOK.

Rating:
Summary: Demystifying autism
Review: Donna Williams' Nobody Nowhere is the Rosetta stone of autism. The author is an autistic herself, and her autobiography gives you a very good idea of what it would be like to be in her skin. She gives plausible explanations for common autistic behaviors, and offers some fasincating hypotheses for causes and contributing factors for this syndrome. And she offers advice on how to communicate with an autistic person with respect and without overwhelming them.

This book is an invaluable resource for parents, siblings, and doctors of autistic people. But it has found a much wider audience, with good reason. Nobody Nowhere is a gripping tale, related in an honest and straightforward manner. It is the story of one woman's triumph over what fate has handed her, and her determination to move beyond her handicaps. You cannot help but be moved by her story, and inspired by her courage and determination.

Rating:
Summary: well-written and immersive -- good stuff
Review: Dream-like and poetic in comparison to Temple Grandin's blunt minimalism, with perhaps a bit more "story" to it, this is another "autism narrative," evocatively written and usually insightful, with a somewhat anticlimatical appendix at the end. Read it as an immersive memoir, or read it to better understand the "autistic logic;" it works both ways.

Rating:
Summary: An inspiring and power piece of work.
Review: First of all, I'd like to tell you that I have not read a book cover to cover in over 7 years before now. I am graduate student studying Elementary Education and taking a special education course. We had to choose a book, read it, and review it. I have got to say that this book caught my attention from the very beginning and held it until the very end. Donna Williams' life reads like a fictional story. It's hard to believe that Ms. Williams endured an abusive family life, graduated from college, and traveled the world while searching for the reasons why she was different. I truly enjoyed this book and have already purchased her second book, Somebody Somewhere. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in autism, autobiographies, or just enjoys reading a wonderfully written book.

Rating:
Summary: Nobody Nowhere
Review: I am the grandparent of an autistic child and found this book so helpful I would recommend that it be made mandatory reading for all professionals who work with autistic persons. I would also strongly urge all others who have autistic persons in their lives to read it. The book has given me insight regarding my grandson's behavior and suggestions of ways to help him. Until experts and their research can provide explanations and perhaps cures for autism, the lived experience of an autistic person, such as Donna Williams provides in her books, is the best help available for those of us who care about and relate to an autistic person.