-PDF Download- Drama Queen One Autistic Woman And A Life Of Unhelpful Labels EBOOK

Drama Queen: One Autistic Woman and a Life of Unhelpful Labels

Author: Sara Gibbs

Publisher: Headline

Published: 2021-06-24

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 1472274334

'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.

Odd Girl Out

Author: Laura James

Publisher: Seal Press

Published: 2018-03-27

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1580057799

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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.

Twirling Naked in the Streets and No One Noticed

Author: Jeannie Davide-Rivera

Publisher:

Published: 2013-04-23

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 9780615801438

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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.

I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder

Author: Sarah Kurchak

Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre

Published: 2020-04-02

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 1771622474

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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.

Rebel Without a Minivan

Author: Tracy Beckerman

Publisher: Cold Tree Press

Published: 2008-01-01

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 9781583852446

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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

Dear Brown Girl

Author: Karlicia Lewis

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2017-12-07

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13: 9781976040993

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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.

How To Be Autistic

Author: Charlotte Amelia Poe

Publisher: Myriad Editions

Published: 2019-09-19

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 1912408333

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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.

Spectrum Women

Author: Barb Cook

Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Published: 2018-08-21

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 1784508063

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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.

My Son's Not Rainman

Author: John Williams

Publisher: Michael O'Mara Books

Published: 2016-09-01

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 1782433899

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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.

But You Don't Look Autistic at All

Author: Bianca Toeps

Publisher:

Published: 2020-07-23

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 9789090334172

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