The testimony of a young woman who identifies as autistic—an extraordinary account. She recounts her life in meticulous detail, but is she truly autistic?
Autism exists on many levels, and the term itself, as we know, invites debate. j
In any case, Donna Williams appears to display many of the traits generally associated with autism. Readers may well find them substantial and wonder about her recovery, or at least about how her condition has evolved.
Still, this book offers something precious for anyone trying to understand, from the inside, what it means to live with such a disorder.
Parents, educators, and psychologists will find much to consider in these dense pages—though some passages prove difficult to parse. This may reflect the translation, or more precisely, the author's particular way of thinking and expressing herself.
The preface seems designed to support the thesis that autism has an organic origin, but the book itself points toward more nuanced conclusions. What strikes us as genuinely valuable are the author's interpretations, near the end of the volume, of certain symptoms—though these might certainly be debated.
The religious dimension is entirely absent from this young woman's life as she describes it. Yet one wonders: given the context in which she lived, how could she have encountered Jesus Christ except, perhaps, through a sociology assignment?
We hope that one day such an encounter will come to pass for her.
- Henri Bissonier, 1993