Published on 12, July, 2020
I was wondering, if we could somehow as a group, contrive to write a book for people who hear one of the two the A words for the first time, at an inconvenient time in their lives.
I thought perhaps we could precede it with a kind of "differential diagnosis" process over a few months, so as we come up with a tome that suits all emerging Autists.
But the effort would need some structuring and require some leadership, and possibly even access to different parts of the software that drives this forum or certainly a greater understanding of how better we can use it as a collaborative tool. It's beyond me as a solo effort, and I suspect many of us.
I think if we got it into the hands of the NHS, so that on the way home from your diagnosis, you could be reassured that there is a better future waiting for you, and be shown some practcial steps to get going in the right direction it would make the news a bit easier to take for some of us. We could include a section on metal ju-jitsu too, for when the normies do that thing they do...
I'll bet with a well written "go-fund me", we could easily cover physical printing and worldwide distribution costs.
Any interest?
Well before I sign up, as it were, to the effort can you confirm a few things for me?
we know who it would be for, people recently diagnosed with autism. But what would it be for? What information are we hoping to convey and to what end?
are we:
some of these Id be more enthusiastic about than others.
as for physical copies is that really needed? In this day and age for small runs electronic publishing is often cheaper and easier for people to access.
Thank you for your input. I think you might have defined 3 of the chapters there!
I'd personally rather have been given a physical book alongside my diagosis, than a few urls. Maybe my self interest crept into that part, as it often does...
Self-publishing is relatively easy these days. https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/I am sure there are other members with more experience of professional writing than me. I write for pleasure mainly. I have had some training and do write the odd sketch or two for professional performers. The first choices I make when approaching a new piece is to first identify the scope, the tangible and measurable goal(s) of the piece. What am I aiming to get across?Example 1: To give comfort and support to newly diagnosed adults by helping them navigate the national health serviceExample 2: To provide real-world examples of autistic traits and how they impact adults (or children).Example 3: To offer practical advice for autistic adults on [insert topic area here]Next, I would then start to think about its target audience. Part of this is already implied in the goal of the book [autistic adults, for example] but, it's a good idea to dig down deeper and a specific age: Teenagers? Millennials? Ages 20-50? Over 60's? You might also want to consider the culture, ability of the audience you wanted to reach (and whether the audience needed to be also extended to be used by medical practitioners). With the goal(s) and the audience clearly identified, you can then decide upon the best narrator, and the best narrative voice(s) to use.
Narrator(s):
First person Third person ImpersonalThird Person Personal
Narrative Voice(s):(the choice is endless, but some examples might be)
Example 1: collection of personal anecdotes from real people linked together by a reliable, authentic autistic narratorExample 2: an authoritative narrator involved in the medical professionExample 3: a benevolent narrator with an overarching view of autismExample 4: (for younger audiences, a popular narrator is) a fictional character —autistic or non-autistic— recounting fictional events in his life that are universally relatable)I hope this make sense. I'm a bit distracted with tradespeople today!