I am a black, female, newly diagnosed AS, and I am struggling with all the recommended reading and literature suggested by my GP. I am noticing what appears to be a clear racial disparity in the experiences of the AS people in the books I'm reading (all written by white men and women) and my experiences. I appreciate we all experience our ASD differently, life experience, trauma, family, etc, but I am seeing a clear pattern that is making me feel more isolated than ever at a time I expected to find likeness and familiarity.
Eg, Girl With The Curly Hair series, frequently the author talks about her practices of changing the world around her to meet her needs. Almost as though she is entitled to do so as a normal expectation of life heightened by her ASD. As a black woman, my experience of life and Western culture is the exact opposite, it is a societal expectation for me to change myself, whatever the cost (the impact of which will be heightened by my ASD) to make the white, male, NT presumed "target audience" more comfortable. I am married to a white NT man and he seems to be beginning to see my point in the reading, but is getting so much out of it and I am just getting more frustrated with my inability to connect to literature that is supposed to represent me. So much of what is discussed in these books as typical AS behaviours are totally alien to me because of a lifetime of suppressing my voice/needs and people pleasing (which can be attributed to female autism but is also a trait of growing up black and female in a white dominated patriarchy).
What I'd really like to know is if there is anyone else out there who has seen this/feel this divide? Am I alone in this? Is there anything I can read that is less likely to have this bias?
(Note, I am not looking to start a debate about whether or not the divide exists, I am hoping for advice on where I can find books by/ groups of people who feel similarly or to hear of those who have had similar experiences, if such a person exists)
