Published on 12, July, 2020
First of all I will state this is not a survey just to reassure moderators.
Inspired by the Chris Packham Programme, and by some answered to that thread about non celebrity autistic people plus some things in another thread about life histories, I think this could be very useful for both neurotypical and autistic people.
What I am thinking of is if a book could be published with each chapter being someone's life story. It would incorporate earliest memories, our background, experiences at school, academic achievements and failures, misunderstandings, the realisation that neurotypical were a bit strange, experiences in the workplace or of being out of work, the skills possessed and our interests, how others try to change us, the disrespect we often get - I'm sure you get the idea.
Am I the only one who would find this very interesting? I have no idea how this could be brought to the attention of a publisher, or what forums would be available to tell our extended stories. Even an online publication could prove interesting.
We all have a different story to tell, linked by our common condition so there would be differences but also some similarities. Psychologists who diagnose probably are aware of all this but as a means of comparing notes and informing others this could be as valuable as any number of academic papers
This is a good idea, though obviously not the first book of its kind. Would it be just people from this site contributing?
I am in the middle of reading Melanie Yergeau's book "Authoring Autism" which contains a lot of jargon and big words so is a bit difficult to read at times but is a good book (not to mention written by someone on the spectrum). It is very interesting and relevant that the main topic of that book is the rhetoricity or non-rhetoricity of autistic people (i.e. whether we are capable of telling our own story or communicating in any meaningful way that isn't just a pale imitation of how neurotypicals communicate). Of course, any visit to a forum populated by neurotypicals, with the poor grammar and spelling and basically terrible writing, easily makes it clear which group is actually better at communicating.....