Autism Memoir

Melanie Sykes has lived most of her life in the public eye. But after a lifetime of being seen – as model, chat show host and broadcaster, Melanie walked away from that career to spend her time helping others be heard, as a campaigner for women’s rights and an advocate for neurodiversity. Then, at 52, Melanie got her own diagnosis of autism and it flicked a switch in her own life. It cast a new light on her own journey and also illuminated the other side of her story – her struggle to be heard, her heartbreaks and challenges, her self-medicating and trauma.

When Jenny Lexhed and her husband have their first child Lucas, they are living the dream. They're happily married, they've just bought a house, the company they built together from the ground up is starting to blossom. But with the arrival of their son, a feeling of anxiety slips into their life. What starts as a feeling becomes a conviction.

Henry Markram is the Elon Musk of neuroscience, the man behind the billion-dollar Blue Brain Project to build a supercomputer model of the brain. He has set the goal of decoding all disturbances of the mind within a generation. This quest is personal for him. The driving force behind his grand ambition has been his son Kai, who has autism. Raising Kai made Henry Markram question all that he thought he knew about neuroscience, and then inspired his groundbreaking research that would upend the conventional wisdom about autism, expressed in his now-famous theory of Intense World Syndrome.

Misfit, truant, delinquent. John Robison was never a model child, and he wasn’t a model dad either. Diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome at the age of 40, he approached fatherhood as a series of logic puzzles and practical jokes. When his son, Cubby, asked, “Where did I come from?” John said he’d bought him at the Kid Store and that the salesman had cheated him by promising Cubby would “do all chores”. He read electrical engineering manuals to Cubby at bedtime.

Until two years of age, Craig and Samantha’s son Connor was just like other kids - playful, verbal, and affectionate. Then everything changed. He stopped talking, displayed behavioral problems, and withdrew into his own world. The official diagnosis - autism. Faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, Craig and Samantha refused to believe a meaningful life for Connor was impossible. God confirmed their faith by revealing to Craig that Connor would one day touch the lives of thousands of people around the world.

Families who have supported a child with special needs will connect with this memoir about Sarah, a feisty girl with autism and a unique genetic blueprint. Her mom, Jenny, is equally feisty and determined, which leads her to make a commitment that dramatically changes her and Sarah’s lives—as well as those of many others.

In 1991, 21-year-old Sarah, the recently divorced mother to two-year-old Hayley, moved from the dusty small town of Farmington, New Mexico, to the bustling city of Houston, Texas, with dreams of a better life. A year later, she was swept off her feet by Greg Swindell, an established major league baseball player who had just signed a lucrative contract with the Houston Astros. Over the next several years, Sarah's Cinderella story continued.That is until 2002, when her picture-perfect life came to a gut-wrenching halt and Sarah was faced with more pain than she ever thought possible.

When her son was diagnosed with autism at the age of three, Irma Velasquez was devastated. It was the pre-internet era of the early 1990s, and both information and experts were hard to find. Desperate for answers, she sought out therapists and educational programs designed to teach Aaron how to become successful in school and in life. But those early years ended up teaching Irma more than they taught Aaron. Irma realized her desire to "fix" her son had been a masquerade to fulfill her own needs, and she began to love him just as he was: perfect.

A singular woman who speaks for humanity and community at large, Cathy Marinelli Gagliano shares from her heart and soul. A Mother's Intuition/Volume 2 takes us into her family's authentic, raw, and vulnerable journey filled with strength, humor and a deep faith in her conviction to limitless growth!

We all know the fairy-tale. An everyday girl meets her Prince Charming, they get married, have children and ride off into the sunset. Sadly, this isn't always the case and Christine McGuinness is keen to change the stereotype that marriage, fame and fortune brings an easy and blissful life. This is Christine's first audiobook, where she tells the world her life story for the very first time. While telling her story, Christine was diagnosed with autism, as revealed in this book for the very first time.

Coming into marriage with high hopes, Shawna faced a cascade of devastating events: divorce, remarriage, infidelity, and emotional neglect in a neurodiverse marriage. With few options left for healing and recovery she remained determined for more. In this authentic account of a wife who is given God's grace far beyond her own strength, the listener can follow Shawna as she loves, weeps, pleads and grieves, and ceaselessly fights for something she believes is possible.

On July 4th, 2013, Connor Sparrowhawk, also known as Laughing Boy or LB, was found dead in a specialist NHS unit. Connor, who had autism and epilepsy, had a seizure while in the bath, and no member of staff was on hand to stop him from drowning. An entirely preventable death. Sara Ryan presents a frank, sometimes funny and touching account of her son's early life and preventable death and the unfolding #JusticeforLB campaign.

My name is Mickey Rowe. I am an actor, a theatre director, a father, and a husband. I am also a man with autism. You think those things don’t go together? Let me show you that they do.

This often heartbreaking account by Carol, whose son, Paul, was born with many difficulties, including autism, is told with the honesty and sincerity necessary to portray the conflicting emotions faced by any family, and particularly a mother, in such circumstances. The overbearing feelings of guilt, failure and inadequacy have to be resolved to enable a happy life with her family.

Susan Casserfelts kriminalromaner i Höga kusten-serien har lovprisats och blivit riktiga ljudbokssuccéer. Men medan hennes författarkarriär tog fart brottades hon med svårigheter på det privata planet. När sonen Hugo föddes förstod Susan ganska snart att han var annorlunda, men det dröjde mer än fem år och många läkarbesök innan han slutligen fick sin diagnos: autism. Med hjälp av bildstöd och teckenspråk försöker föräldrarna hantera Hugos många utmaningar. Samtidigt kämpar Susan med att få hjälp för sin egen utmattning.

Frank and funny, these stories, written originally for the Bengali children's magazine Sandesh, are an essential listen for all Ray enthusiasts as well as those who want to know Ray, the writer and filmmaker, better. In this volume, Ray also shares some of his experiences while shooting Pather Panchali - his epic debut, and subsequent films, particularly for children.

In Girls of Tender Age, Mary-Ann Tirone Smith fully articulates with great humor and tenderness the wild jubilance of an extended French-Italian family struggling to survive in a post-World War II housing project in Hartford, Connecticut.

Diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder, a form of autism, as a toddler, Anthony Ianni wasn't expected to succeed in school or participate in sports, but he had other ideas. As a child, Ianni told anybody who would listen, including head coach Tom Izzo, that he would one day play for the Michigan State Spartans.

A rare insight into the complexities faced by autistic people and a completely new perspective on some astonishing advantages of autism. For autistic individuals, relatives and carers, teachers, friends, partners, employers or anyone else who is interested in learning about autism.

My Autistic Fight Song is a memoir that follows Rosie Weldon’s journey from a college drop out as she tries to achieve her dream of being a qualified accountant. With the odds stacked against her and the stakes high, she refuses to give up on her dream. Of two things Rosie was sure. First, she wanted to be an accountant. Second, she was destined to be alone. But when life threw at her an autism diagnosis and a mystery girl, she was left asking: Who would employ her and was she capable of falling in love?