I am an autistic female myself and have worked in the field of autism for 20 years. I’ve written several books on the subject of autism, have an MA in Autism and delivered many hundreds of conference presentations (several of which can be found on Youtube). Frankly, I know my stuff as I live and breathe the world of autistic women. I have an autistic daughter, all of my female friends are autistic and I have diagnosed hundreds of females as autistic.
I wrote
Women and Girls on the Autism Spectrum: Understanding Life Experiences from Early Childhood to Old Age
I loved this book when I first read it. It was ground-breaking at the time by presenting the autistic female world like no one else had done in this way before.
Rudi’s humour and relatable way of writing gave me an insight into what it meant to be an autistic woman. She paved the way for the rest of us writing in this way.
*Gold Medal Winner in the Sexuality / Relationships Category of the 2011 IPPY Awards*
* Honorary Mention in the 2010 BOTYA Awards Women's Issues Category *
Girls with Asperger's Syndrome are less frequently diagnosed than boys, and even once symptoms have been recognised, help is often not readily available. The image of coping well presented by AS females of any age can often mask difficulties, deficits, challenges, and loneliness.
This is a must-have handbook written by an Aspergirl for Aspergirls, young and old. Rudy Simone guides you through every aspect of both personal and professional life, from early recollections of…
An extraordinary book written by an extraordinary woman.
Donna’s autobiography shares her often difficult childhood story and her ‘discovery’ that she was autistic at a time when diagnosis for women was uncommon. Her tale is harrowing at times, yet inspiring and so fascinating to learn of her life. A real classic of a book written by an autistic woman.
Donna Williams was a child with more labels than a jam-jar: deaf, wild disturbed, stupid insane... She lived within herself, her own world her foreground, ours a background she only visited. Isolated from her self and from the outside world, Donna was, in her words, a Nobody Nowhere. She swung violently between these two worlds, battling to join our world and, simultaneously, to keep it out. Abandoned from all connection to the self within her, she lived as a ghost with a body, a patchwork of the images which bombarded her. Intact but detached from the seemingly incomprehensible world around…
This is the fourth book in the Joplin/Halloran forensic mystery series, which features Hollis Joplin, a death investigator, and Tom Halloran, an Atlanta attorney.
It's August of 2018, shortly after the Republican National Convention has nominated Donald Trump as its presidential candidate. Racial and political tensions are rising, and so…
Steph has a way with words, that will make you laugh and cry at the same time.
Her survival guide to therapy takes us on a journey that I entirely identify with – trying to find therapy for all of our ‘problems’ from therapists who don’t really get it. I learned so much (and know now what to do) and enjoyed myself along the way.
"This is the book that would've saved me nine different therapists, decades of self-analysis, thousands of pounds, twelve different doctors and untold amounts of pain, frustration and trauma - in spending a lifetime looking for the right answers in the wrong places I've become an accidental expert."
In this candid, witty and insightful exploration into therapy, Steph Jones uses her professional and lived experiences as a late diagnosed autistic woman and therapist, as well as consulting therapists from across the world and tapping into the autistic community, to create the ultimate autistic survival guide to therapy.
This was one of the most honest books I have ever read.
Marian shares her life story with utter candour, from her early life up until her autism diagnosis as an adult. Her anecdotes and tales or faux pas and other social screw-ups are so relatable and she made me want to give her a hug in pure solidarity. I feel your pain, Marian!
This is the fourth book in the Joplin/Halloran forensic mystery series, which features Hollis Joplin, a death investigator, and Tom Halloran, an Atlanta attorney.
It's August of 2018, shortly after the Republican National Convention has nominated Donald Trump as its presidential candidate. Racial and political tensions are rising, and so…
I love this book (and the others in the series). Lisbeth Salander is most kick-ass autistic woman of all time (closely followed by Saga Noren from the TV series, The Bridge).
I found the storyline absolutely gripping, and awful at the same time. I was angered on Lisbeth’s behalf at the treatment she endures, and cheering at how she wins through in her uniquely autistic, logical way. An autistic hero if ever there was one. A truly great book that I re-read over again.
Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder - and that the killer is a member of his own tightly-knit but dysfunctional family.
He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history.
The book takes the reader through the entire lifespan of autistic females, from infancy to old age and everything in between, identifying typical characteristics, experiences and a literature review of hundreds of academic papers, all liberally peppered with the words of autistic women, and parents of autistic girls themselves. This 2nd edition is hugely extended and updated from the first, which was published in 2014, and was one of the first books to cover this topic so broadly.
For me, as an autistic woman myself, the words of my peers give an insight into our world as it really is, rather than from the outside. My book shares their stories alongside my own, allowing others like us to find their tribe and self-acceptance.