Women From Another Planet?: Our Lives in the Universe of Autism

by Jean Kearns Miller and Dashka Slater

Book Overview

Mention the word autism and the room suddenly turns silent. It's the dreaded A word. People's attention turns to late night TV public service ads declaring that autistic children are "imprisoned" by autism and need curing at all cost. Recent autobiographies have helped dispel this dire description by suggesting that autism is not a prison and that the door is unlocked and you're free to come in. Women from Another Planet? moves...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1410734315
• ISBN13: 9781410734310
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: 1st Book Library
• Length: 326 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A variety of approaches to self-realization

Disclosure - I received my copy of this book as a gift from one of the contributors, who has been a personal friend of mine for years. As a woman on the spectrum, I am used to our views being constantly ignored. The female experience of autism is qualitatively different from that of the male. If we don't talk, we are "shy". If we don't socialize with others, or need to watch what they are doing before we can attempt to join in, we're "not socially adept". If we don't join in the backstabbing and constant talk about makeup, sexuality, and clothing starting in junior high and high school, we're downright weird. It is both easier and harder to be a woman autistic. People who think we are just shy frequently try to find ways to encourage us to "join in". And a lot of behavior that people find threatening from males on the spectrum, while not precisely acceptable in us, is less socially inappropriate. If one of us likes someone and doesn't know how to approach them, but constantly hangs around that person, someone might find a way to introduce us, if the person doesn't notice us by him or herself. In a male autistic, this same behavior could lead to stalking charges and restraining orders. The fact that so many different women contributed to this book is a big factor in its success - at least one voice in there is likely to speak to someone. And as for being self-diagnosed and "trivializing" autism... it is very hard to get diagnosed as an adult. Most of us, even those who have documentation of our severel language delay, are either "too successful" to be diagnosed (i.e., we have a relationship, employment, or advanced degrees and doctors dismiss our concerns about ourself), or are just diagnosed "Asperger's". Personally, I spent much of my childhood echolalic and couldn't speak in sentences until I was almost 8. I still flap, rock, and enjoy watching spinning objects, and am extremely auditorily hyper-sensitive. I can still heard dog whistles. Bright colors disturb me, and I still can't drink out of cups that are colors other than clear, white, or blue without throwing up. My childhood "diagnosis" was elective mutism (now called selective mutism) with autistic features, because I could read and answer yes/no or multiple choice questions. At the time, to be called autistic, you had to be mentally retarded. Learning disabilities (such as my inability to do even the simplest mathematical calculations) do not count. As an adult, I am labelled Asperger's, even though I STILL meet the DSM-IV-TR criteria for autism, since I have Semantic-Pragmatic Language Disorder, and the speech of people with Asperger's is supposed to be intact. I work with children on the spectrum. I love most of them very much, and hope that they can become at least as high-functioning as I am. But I cannot understand their parents (other than a few who are actually on the spectrum or close to it [ADHD, etc]) to save my life. I have a very succesful history of be

wisdom from sisters i didn't know i had!

I loved the multiple-writers approach of this book. Many of the stories were similar to my own experiences as an Autistic woman, some were different. it helps me to understand the variations within our variation. Jane Meyerding's "Growing up Genderless" essay summed up for me a lot of the insidious problems faced by autistic women: as females we're supposed to be the socially adept gender: smoothing the way and facilitating the school dance, the weddings, children, family, school, church, husbands' career, etc.. When (because of autism) we don't act or look like "real girls" we are subjected to extreme ridicule and abuse and a feeling of not belonging anywhere. These stories from women outside the box are and important part of Autistic culture; both to serve as solidarity literature for other mature AS women and hopefully give today's AS girls some more accurate pictures of how we really are and how we navigate the world. the essay format is easy to read in chunks and the variety of voices make it a broader overview than any single-author book. I recommend this to Autistic women of all ages, especially if you've just learned that your "weirdness" is really called "autism". You're not alone, let these sisters share their stories.

Celebrate! Wave the Puzzle-Patterned Autism Banner Proudly!

To say I truly love this book would be a vast understatement. Instead of presenting one theory or the "Procrustean Bed" approach of painfully forcing people to support a certain finding, this book provides a myriad of insights into autism among women. I am good and tired of the Rain Man stereotype that protrays people with autism has having savant abilities and no viable social skills; I am equally tired of the "rocking and staring" stereotype of autism as well. Sadly, stereotypes are so often applied to any population and this book unfortunately has passages wherein other groups are painted with the Stereotyping Brush. That is the only drawback. Since this book contains a myriad of descriptions, it provides the much needed service of explaining that autism and its related neurobiological condition Asperger's is as unique as there are individuals who are on the spectrum. As the NT (neurotypical) population recognizes and claims individuality, the same applies among the a/A population. How wonderful to find a book by people with autism about people with autism. This is the only work I am currently aware of that is concentrated on women who have autism. The fact that the authors come from all walks of life is representative of the multi-cultural/multi-ethnic world we all, as people live in is a very powerful statement. Autism does not discriminate. I also like the way the authors describe their individual needs in coping with a largely NT world; the voice for accessibility can be seen, heard and felt throughout this work. The authors are not reluctant to challenge stereotypes and make individual claims describing how they are personally affected by having autism. What makes this book so unique is that it is connects feminism and autism. NT issues are also addressed in this work as well. At no time did I feel these roads diverged; rather I felt the NT and a/A road converged frequently throughout this book. A wide range of issues are discussed such as the spiritual aspects of people's lives; their core values and beliefs; their work experiences; things they do on a routine basis. Indeed, it is just this wide range that speaks even more to the diversity of the Autism Experience and encourage people to celebrate that part of their lives. Readers will come away wanting to wave the Autism Banner with Pride! This book is a masterpiece. Like the Autism Ribbon made up of multi-colored, interlocking pieces, this book puts together a beautiful mosiac of the Autism Experience among a diverse group of women. The image as a whole, prose and poetry combined with each individual voice makes for a very unique work of art. This book is for everybody. NT readers will come away with a greater understanding and appreciation for autism; readers on the a/A spectrum will feel this book speaks to some aspects of their lives. It contains a fresh set of perspectives about human lives and how autism is a part of those lives and not the sole focus.

Fascinating Read

Women From Another Planet knocked my socks off, enlightened me and gave me insight into the lives of autistic people. It also points out how we neurologically typical people often treat autistic people as if they are worth less than we are, sometimes with absolute cruelty. It was quite ironic to read about the "normal" persons insensitivity, lack of imagination, and selfish selfcenteredness (all supposedly autistic traits) around many of these women. I found the whole book marvellous and fascinating. Since there are 19 contributors, the variety of experiences and traits is huge. A good read!

Wow. A look at our real, whole lives for once.

Most books by autistic people have two main flaws: They are written from one person's point of view that usually includes a lot of generalization, and the authors write primarily about the parts of themselves that most neatly fit autism stereotypes. This is an anthology, so it contains multiple perspectives on the same issues. And it is a well-conceived book, so it does not stay neatly within the boundaries of current autism stereotypes. The main complaint I have about it, if any, is that it does not always do such a good job of avoiding stereotypes of other disabilities, whether physical or mental. And that it periodically refers to all the women in the book as "Asperger's syndrome" whether they officially are that or some other kind of autism. These things might put off some readers who would otherwise enjoy it. But no book is perfect.This book is intended for reading by all sorts of autistic people, and it is written by all sorts of autistic people. The authors come from different backgrounds, classes, sexual orientations, thinking styles, and kinds of autism. They range from people diagnosed in childhood to people diagnosed in adulthood, people who receive a fair amount of official assistance to people who receive none, and people who are on the boundaries between autism and neurotypicality to people well into the autistic side of things. This is important because most books by one autistic woman at a time end up with the problem of overgeneralization from one perspective. It's hard to do that in a book with so many and varied people writing for it. For instance, there are times when several of the authors are saying, "This is the way autism is," and another author will say, "Hey, wait a minute, it's not that way for *me*!" That's the beauty of having multiple sources of input.The book is meant as a crossroads between feminism and the neurodiversity movement, and a discussion of life as autistic women. Neither side of this is neglected -- people's lives are discussed as they relate to autism, as they relate to womanhood, and as autism relates to womanhood. Do not assume that all you will be hearing about are stereotypical autistic statements and stereotypical female statements, however -- the writing in this book ranges from poetry to prose; the topics from spirituality to the mundane aspects of daily life, as well as specifically female things like motherhood (yes, autistic people *can* be mothers!) This book is neither dry nor boring, and it gets a message across without being preachy.It is laid out with an introduction at the beginning, several sections of writing that are connected just loosely enough and just tightly enough, and a glossary and recommended reading at the end.It's hard to pick a favorite part. There are too many parts that I either relate to or learn from. There is no one simplistic view of autistic women espoused, so there is a lot to choose from. Jane Meyerding's "Growing Up Genderless", in which she r