by the same author
An Insider’s Approach to the Treatment of Autistic Spectrum ‘Fruit Salads’
ISBN 978 1 84310 281 6
eISBN 978 1 84642 461 8
The Remarkable Autobiography of an Autistic Girl
ISBN 978 1 85302 718 5
eISBN 978 0 85700 579 3
Breaking Free from the World of Autism
ISBN 978 1 85302 719 2
eISBN 978 0 85700 578 6
Soul Searching and Soul Finding
ISBN 978 1 85302 720 8
eISBN 978 1 84642 200 3
Autism: An Inside-Out Approach
An Innovative Look at the Mechanics of ‘Autism’ and its Developmental ‘Cousins’
ISBN 978 1 85302 387 3
eISBN 978 1 84642 995 8
The Unlost Instinct
ISBN 978 1 85302 612 6
eISBN 978 1 84642 994 1
Exposure Anxiety – The Invisible Cage
An Exploration of Self-Protection Responses in the Autism Spectrum
ISBN 978 1 84310 051 5
eISBN 978 1 84642 357 4
A Collection of Thoughts on Paper
ISBN 978 1 84310 228 1
Everyday Heaven
Journeys Beyond the Stereotypes of Autism
Donna Williams
Jessica Kingsley Publishers London and Philadelphia
First published in the United Kingdom in 2004
This edition published in 2010
by Jessica Kingsley Publishers
73 Collier Street
London N1 9BE, UK
and
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Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
www.jkp.com
Copyright © Donna Williams 2004 and 2010
The right of Donna Williams to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher.
Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work may result in both a civil claim for damages and criminal prosecution.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 84310 211 3
eISBN 978 1 84642 081 8
To my inspirations, Sheila, Bobeth, Serge and, of course, my wonderful husband Chris. And to the holistic doctors and clinicians who have dared to be pioneers in the labyrinth of autism and think outside of the box. Finally, to Jackie Paper, Margo, Monty and Jean. Always with me.
Foreword
Autism is a fruit salad and every journey with it is different. There are questions of where does condition end and self begin or are the two so intertwined as to be interchangeable. There are questions of culture verses cure or treatment. Where is that ethical, spiritually healthy, socially humane? There are questions of whether there is autism or autisms, whether autism makes one alien amidst general social or, like looking through a microscope at humanness itself, does it illuminate experiences we all have, uncover things people hide about their own world and the secrets of self just under the surface or buried deeply.
I was assessed as psychotic at the age of two in a three day inpatient hospital assessment in 1965. By late childhood I was still echolalic, had a language of my own, was labelled disturbed and still being tested for deafness. My meaning deafness was discovered when I was nine and interventions led to me gradually acquiring and becoming fluent in 'functional speech' but it would be decades more before I could use that to deeply express and gain answers about my own ‘fruit salad’ or the passions, fears, perspectives I had about others, life and myself.
Living
