Women and Girls on the Autism Spectrum, Second Edition – Book Review

Women and Girls on the Autism Spectrum, Second Edition:
Understanding Life Experiences from Early Childhood to Old Age

All of Sarah’s books are a ‘must read’, however if you’re autistic, care about someone with Autism or involved in the diagnosis of women and girls, then this book is an invaluable resource on your journey to increasing your knowledge and understanding from a female perspective.

Sarah continues to tackle misconceptions about Autism and how the experience of women and girls can differ. Her writing moves away from the deficit model and what autistic women ‘can’t do’, to showcase their wishes and desires and what they ‘can do’, and can do well might I add! Sarah’s book emphasises that these women and girls are the expert on themselves, which is especially reaffirming when their voices so often remained unheard. I appreciated that Sarah didn’t shy away from illuminating the hard and at times scary reality of being an autistic woman. I’m hopeful that by creating a culture where we openly talk about such things, it will enable us to change the outcome for many autistic girls.

This book clearly articulated aspects of my life that I am yet to verbally conceptualise and it was comforting to read the anecdotes of the wonderful people who contributed. I guarantee if you are on a journey to self acceptance this book will help you on your way.

I will end this review with one of my favourite quotes from the book because I couldn’t say it any better than Sarah. “Girls and autistic women: please, know that you are fine exactly as you are. Yes, you’re a bit weird, but that’s perfectly alright.”