Re: book

[Guest guest]

This is the book that led to my diagnosis. She personally has been in my

life ever since.

I really count her as one of the most significant people/friends in my

entire life.

K

p.s. My various connections, although not exact, were similar to your

relating experience with the book although I did not feel nauseated, I did

cry a lot.

>

> I am reading Donna ' Nobody Nowhere. I keep having a reaction

> to it. I get really woozy and almost nauseated. I even decided to not

> read it for a few days but then tonight I wondered why I had thought

> that, so read a bit, and got the same woozy feeling. I know some of

> it has to do with... the things she says make me have visual memories

> of when I was a little girl. I can see the rooms I lived in etc. From

> about age 18 months or maybe earlier, on up to age three... when we

> lived in some apartment buildings... we moved when I was 3. But now I

> am into the adolescent years and it still makes me woozy because it

> is very very similar to how I lived from age 15-20. Which is kind of

> scary. Books and movies and ideas seem to have a power over me at

> times. I find the book makes me jsut want to crawl under the covers

> for several days. Not sure why. Even the stuff about how she

> perceived things. Like seeing spots and colors in front of her eyes.

> I just thought everyone did that. But I also wonder if it is in the

> book because it is an autistic thing. I did not think I was " that

> autistic. " THIS IS NOT MEANT AS AN INSULT TO ANYONE, just that I have

> been thinking " Oh I am a teeny bit autistic, just a little Aspie... "

> but when I read her book and think that it reads like she was

> much " more " autistic than me, yet I keep getting the woozy feeling

> and the feeling like I know what she is talking about.... I don't

> know. I have a hard time doing anything else after I have read any of

> the book so have to take breaks so I can do things like work or eat.

>

> Now in this section where she is talking about living on her own when

> she was 15-16. I did a similar thing, not the exact same experiences,

> but about as clueless and vulnerable and not able to tell safety from

> danger, etc. So... it's all very interesting and I jsut wanted to ask

> if anyone has read the book and if anyone knows why I would get such

> a physical reaction (dizziness and nausea). Maybe it's fear. It

> probably is but it usually does not feel like this. Only with this

> book.

>

> Rhonda

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Kaye wrote:

> This is the book that led to my diagnosis. She personally has

> been in my life ever since. I really count her as one of the

> most significant people/friends in my entire life.

I bought that book months ago. Really need to start reading it.

Clay

[Guest guest]

Yes Clay- and do read The Running With Scissors book I gave you to, which is

about to be a movie, which probably can't even begin to compare to the book.

But its a book I still think of from time to time, very memorable, and at

times just like my family except for the guy that measures his turds and

dries each prize on the picnic table.

Although I must say, my 24 yr old son with aspergers still refuses to flush

and invites people to go in and look at his treasures. He says he cant bring

himself to flush what he's created.

Sorry for the content. Its such a pathetic, sad, shocking, funny, book. I

was laughing out loud and crying.

I hope the movie doesn't disappoint but they usually dont compare to the

book.

Kim

>

> Kaye wrote:

>

> > This is the book that led to my diagnosis. She personally has

> > been in my life ever since. I really count her as one of the

> > most significant people/friends in my entire life.

>

> I bought that book months ago. Really need to start reading it.

>

> Clay

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

rhndroberts wrote:

> I am reading Donna ' Nobody Nowhere. I keep having a reaction

> to it. I get really woozy and almost nauseated. I even decided to not

> read it for a few days but then tonight I wondered why I had thought

> that, so read a bit, and got the same woozy feeling.

That's the only book on autism I have, not from lack of interest, but

rather lack of funds for books. I don't know why you would get a

physical reaction from that book. There are lots of auti-biographies

out there you can try reading as well and see if you get the same

reaction.

> Happy Birthday Susie! 27 is a good age. I can still remember back

> that far. Gee, that was 20 years ago! You are definitely not OLD

> yet, almost exactly 20 years younger than me.

I am 47 as well.

-june

[Guest guest]

June wrote:

>That's the only book on autism I have, not from lack of interest, but

>rather lack of funds for books.

I can't afford to buy books, either, but I'm lucky to live in a city

with a good library system. Others may find it worthwhile checking

out library resources. Even if your local library doesn't have the

book you want, they may do interlibrary loan (where the book is

borrowed from a library in another state), or they may accept

purchase suggestions. I can go on the library's web site and fill out

a form asking that they purchase a book (after I've checked the

catalogue to make sure the library doesn't own it already). At the

bottom of the form, there's a place to check Yes to the question: " If

we are not able to purchase this item, do you want us to get if for

you through interlibrary loan? "

Jane

[Guest guest]

>>> At the

> bottom of the form, there's a place to check Yes to the question: " If

> we are not able to purchase this item, do you want us to get if for

> you through interlibrary loan? "

>

> Jane>>>

>

Yes that's how I moved on to more " technical " which were in some cases crap,

sometimes not, my library borrowed books for me from U Conn Storrs.

I am suspecting the Rhonda had such a strong reaction to Donna's NN book

because it is the first autbio she has read. That tends to be the most

memorable

for a person, and hitting. Also she is a fabulous writer.

K

>

[Guest guest]

Actually, Donna's book is the third auti-bio I have read. I read

Temple Grandin's Thinking in Pictures, which I marked up in the

margins with things like " Me, too! " Also, I learned from her how to

find my car in the parking lot (when I remember to " take a picture "

of where I parked). Then I read Liane Holiday Willey's Pretending to

Be Normal. One thing about both of those books is each author

describes how she observed the " normal " people to determine how to

act in certain situations. Whereas I never even thought of trying to

observe NTs until lately. I knew I was doing something " wrong " when

it came to fitting in but I never thought of making it into some sort

of fieldwork thing.

Anyway, neither of those books have things in them like Donna's. The

way she describes looking at air particles.. whatever those were, I

don't think I looked at them, but I did things like squeezing my eyes

almost shut and looking at the sun so I could see the rainbow prism

effect. At first I found the book somewhat enticing and I would say

seductive. I was reading it the first night and wanted to get away

from all the noises my husband and son were making. I looked up at

one point and noticed I was sitting in the closet! I had a hard

time " coming back " to take care of things in " real life " because I

just wanted to remember (visual memory) a lot of things that were

coming up from my childhood memories. A lot of being alone and just

looking at little things like the floorboards or whatever. All I can

say is it made me just about useless for the rest of the evening so I

went to bed early!

Then, later when she talks about leaving home at age 15... I was a

pretty " wild " teenager. The guidance counselors at my school did not

understand me. Here I was so smart but I did some pretty " stupid "

things and had a really lousy attitude. I ran away from home a number

of times. My family life seems not as bad as Donna describes hers but

it was pretty bad. Then from age 16-20 I moved around a lot, moved in

with some jerky boyfriends etc. When I read that part of the book I

get memories I don't want to get including all the visuals of

course.... I wrote a lot of stories about that time in my life when I

first got into college and took creative writing classes, and they

were fairly autobiographical with graphic details about things like

not eating or living in a place where I had to step over the heroin

addict passed out in the hallway to get to my door. Some of the

comments I got from fellow students were that they found my stories

unbelievable because " nobody would do that... " The teachers typically

remained silent on the matter of the truth of my work perhaps because

they recognized that someone COULD have those experiences, or be able

to write about them. There was a world of difference between me and

the average incoming college freshman!

So, I think my reaction could be that this is the first auti-bio I

have read that has things that I never equated with being autistic,

(in the sense that some unpleasant experiences could be the result of

not being able to process situations in a way that would be more to

my advantage...). It is making me revist and re-think things that

have happened in my life. If I read about a person with Asperger's

who lived in a supportive family, got teased some, and then went on

to college and got a PhD, it has a different effect on me than

someone who went to the pay phone in the same sweater night after

night... which is like me at a certain point in my life... then later

I went to college and seemed a bit more " normal " to people ...if I

didn't let them into my house to see how wrecked it is, and if I

didn't tell them about my earlier life... I hope this is making some

sense.

Anyway, I am NOT reading Donna this weekend because I am behind on my

work and I KNOW whatever I read is going to affect me. I saw her next

book, Somebody Somewhere, in the bookstore and am going to get it

soon. I would have bought it but my son was with me and being the

wild boy so I decided to buy it when I had some time to myself.

Thanks for reading.

Hey, it's 11:11, a nice time of day!

Rhonda

[Guest guest]

Rhonda wrote:

>So, I think my reaction could be that this is the first auti-bio I

>have read that has things that I never equated with being autistic,

>(in the sense that some unpleasant experiences could be the result of

>not being able to process situations in a way that would be more to

>my advantage...). It is making me revist and re-think things that

>have happened in my life. If I read about a person with Asperger's

>who lived in a supportive family, got teased some, and then went on

>to college and got a PhD, it has a different effect on me than

>someone who went to the pay phone in the same sweater night after

>night... which is like me at a certain point in my life... then later

>I went to college and seemed a bit more " normal " to people ...if I

>didn't let them into my house to see how wrecked it is, and if I

>didn't tell them about my earlier life... I hope this is making some

>sense.

Dawn Prince- (book: Songs of the Gorilla Nation) is another who

had a rough life starting out.

Jane

[Guest guest]

You might want to try Like Color For The Blind, the third in the series, and

then a fourth which I read last year:

Everyday Heaven, her sampling of being bisexual. I guess thats how I'd

phrase it.

I read the ones you have mentioned too.But not the one Jane reccomended,

(yet)

Our peers are far and wide.

k

>

> Actually, Donna's book is the third auti-bio I have read. I read

> Temple Grandin's Thinking in Pictures, which I marked up in the

> margins with things like " Me, too! " Also, I learned from her how to

> find my car in the parking lot (when I remember to " take a picture "

> of where I parked). Then I read Liane Holiday Willey's Pretending to

> Be Normal. One thing about both of those books is each author

> describes how she observed the " normal " people to determine how to

> act in certain situations. Whereas I never even thought of trying to

> observe NTs until lately. I knew I was doing something " wrong " when

> it came to fitting in but I never thought of making it into some sort

> of fieldwork thing.

>

> Anyway, neither of those books have things in them like Donna's. The

> way she describes looking at air particles.. whatever those were, I

> don't think I looked at them, but I did things like squeezing my eyes

> almost shut and looking at the sun so I could see the rainbow prism

> effect. At first I found the book somewhat enticing and I would say

> seductive. I was reading it the first night and wanted to get away

> from all the noises my husband and son were making. I looked up at

> one point and noticed I was sitting in the closet! I had a hard

> time " coming back " to take care of things in " real life " because I

> just wanted to remember (visual memory) a lot of things that were

> coming up from my childhood memories. A lot of being alone and just

> looking at little things like the floorboards or whatever. All I can

> say is it made me just about useless for the rest of the evening so I

> went to bed early!

>

> Then, later when she talks about leaving home at age 15... I was a

> pretty " wild " teenager. The guidance counselors at my school did not

> understand me. Here I was so smart but I did some pretty " stupid "

> things and had a really lousy attitude. I ran away from home a number

> of times. My family life seems not as bad as Donna describes hers but

> it was pretty bad. Then from age 16-20 I moved around a lot, moved in

> with some jerky boyfriends etc. When I read that part of the book I

> get memories I don't want to get including all the visuals of

> course.... I wrote a lot of stories about that time in my life when I

> first got into college and took creative writing classes, and they

> were fairly autobiographical with graphic details about things like

> not eating or living in a place where I had to step over the heroin

> addict passed out in the hallway to get to my door. Some of the

> comments I got from fellow students were that they found my stories

> unbelievable because " nobody would do that... " The teachers typically

> remained silent on the matter of the truth of my work perhaps because

> they recognized that someone COULD have those experiences, or be able

> to write about them. There was a world of difference between me and

> the average incoming college freshman!

>

> So, I think my reaction could be that this is the first auti-bio I

> have read that has things that I never equated with being autistic,

> (in the sense that some unpleasant experiences could be the result of

> not being able to process situations in a way that would be more to

> my advantage...). It is making me revist and re-think things that

> have happened in my life. If I read about a person with Asperger's

> who lived in a supportive family, got teased some, and then went on

> to college and got a PhD, it has a different effect on me than

> someone who went to the pay phone in the same sweater night after

> night... which is like me at a certain point in my life... then later

> I went to college and seemed a bit more " normal " to people ...if I

> didn't let them into my house to see how wrecked it is, and if I

> didn't tell them about my earlier life... I hope this is making some

> sense.

>

> Anyway, I am NOT reading Donna this weekend because I am behind on my

> work and I KNOW whatever I read is going to affect me. I saw her next

> book, Somebody Somewhere, in the bookstore and am going to get it

> soon. I would have bought it but my son was with me and being the

> wild boy so I decided to buy it when I had some time to myself.

>

> Thanks for reading.

>

> Hey, it's 11:11, a nice time of day!

> Rhonda

>

>

>