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Book Cover for: Nobody Nowhere: The Remarkable Autobiography of an Autistic Girl, Donna Williams

Nobody Nowhere: The Remarkable Autobiography of an Autistic Girl

Donna Williams

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 her, she lived in what she called 'a world under glass`.

After twenty-five years of being misunderstood, and unable to understand herself, Donna stumbled upon the word 'autism': a label, but one which held up a mirror and made sense of her life and struggles, and gave her a chance to finally forgive both herself and those around her.

Nobody Nowhere is disturbing, eloquent and ticklishly funny: it is an account of the soul of someone who lived the word 'autism' and survived in an unsympathetic environment despite intense inner chaos and incomprehension. It describes how, against the odds, Donna came to live independently, achieve a place at university, and write this remarkable autobiography. It is now an international bestseller, sold in over 14 languages throughout the world. This is a book that will stay with you as one of the most exceptional works you will ever read.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
  • Publish Date: Dec 1st, 1998
  • Pages: 192
  • Language: English
  • Edition: Revised - undefined
  • Dimensions: 6.56in - 9.34in - 0.45in - 0.67lb
  • EAN: 9781853027185
  • Categories: GeneralPsychopathology - Autism Spectrum Disorders

About the Author

Williams, Donna: - Donna Williams was born in Australia in 1963. She was assessed at age two as psychotic, labelled disturbed and tested for deafness throughout childhood before being diagnosed as autistic in 1990. Today she is an internationally best-selling author with nine published books, an artist, singer-songwriter and emerging screenwriter. One of the most well-known people with autism in the world, Donna is a renowned international public speaker, a qualified teacher and has worked as an autism consultant since 1995.

Praise for this book

Nobody Nowhere tears aside the veil that conceals the mind of the autistic person. Donna Williams' account has the magnetic and unrivalled power of authenticity... this book is absorbing, disturbing, enriching and it will cause many to substantially revise their views of what it is that constitutes psychological normality.--Professor Anthony Clare
This was an interesting account of Donna's life and how she dealt with the outside world and intertwined her three personalities to cope. I feel this is a worthwhile read for any parent or relative of an autistic person. Teachers and psychologists as well as therapists would better understand how an autistic person sees themselves.--BellaOnline Reviews
Donna Williams isn't just teaching us what it is like to be autistic, she is teaching us what it is like to be human.--The New York Times Book Review
It really is an amazing, engaging autobiography of a fascinating individual. Whether you are familiar with autism first-hand or not, you will have a difficult time putting this book down, I can assure you.--Autism Café.