No You Don’t: Essays from an Unstrange Mind

This collection of raw, honest, emotional essays describe the pitfalls and joys of an autistic life. The author is a popular autistic blogger and her title essay, No You Don't, won her a loyal readership who admired her courage to share some of the darkest, most difficult times in her life. This collection includes that essay and one other popular essay that was published on her blog, Unstrange Mind, but all the rest of the writing in this book is new and has never been seen in print before -- on her blog or elsewhere. While this book contains reflections on some of the harsher aspects of living an autistic life, the overall tone is upbeat and hopeful. This book is not an exposé; the author describes it as a love song to the world. She expresses that her hope in writing is to help bridge the social gap between autistic people and non-autistic people and to help parents by showing them her story in hopes that a glimpse of one autistic life, viewed across the life span from childhood to middle age, will help validate and support parents in making wise choices in the confusing and difficult journey of mentoring their own children into becoming the strong and happy adults they are meant to be.