Women diagnosed later in life with autism and stereotyping in the media of neurodivergence are among the many issues raised by authors in a new book showcasing Australian autistic writers.
Someone Like Me, an anthology of creative non-fiction short stories and essays, explores the varied experiences of autistic women and gender diverse authors today.
The collection, edited by author Jo Case and journalist Clem Bastow, brings together 25 writers, and according to them gives a sense of community and of seeing “ourselves in others and being seen”.
Case told Central News she hopes Someone Like Me will enable more people to receive faster diagnoses.
“Hopefully books like this, and you know, just people speaking about their experiences makes it less likely that people will have to wait that long,” she said.
“I think for a long time, people just would have no way of knowing that they’re autistic, because that information just wasn’t out there, and therefore a lot of people are late diagnosed just because they couldn’t possibly know before, because nobody knew.”
“I really craved seeing something that I would identify with, and I kind of had this idea in the back of my head that I would really love more than anything, a collection of various voices.”
I want them to know what it’s like to be autistic from the inside, rather than just from the outside.
While Case said they weren’t looking for Someone Like Me to be about diagnosis stories, they make up a clear thread throughout the anthology.
According to an Australian Bureau of Statistics report in 2022, while men continue to have higher rates of autism than women, the growth rate in autism prevalence between 2018 and 2022 was significantly larger for women, and noted there was a historical under-diagnosis of autism in women that could have contributed to it.
In the collection human rights activist Khadija Gbla in their piece Building an Intersectional Legacy, reflects on their diagnosis alongside their child.
“My job as a parent is to adapt to my child,” they write. “But I was delighted that the kindergarten teachers picked it up, and we both received diagnoses.”
Similarly, graphic designer Lauren Metzler, depicts in Recently I was Diagnosed as Autistic, her story in comic strip form, explaining how she completely burnt-out in adulthood before finding out she was autistic.
Lauren Metzler’s comic strip.
April is Autism Acceptance Month in Australia, and another part of the collection is an acknowledgement of stereotypes often presented in the media.
“There’s not one way to be autistic, but I hope that they (readers) learn things that they didn’t know about being autistic from reading it,” Case said. “Like for me, there were a lot of little moments of recognition.
“I want them to know what it’s like to be autistic from the inside, rather than just from the outside. I think that’s one great thing about this collection, is that we get all of these different people who are speaking to their experience in a way that takes us inside it, rather than them being written about.”
Someone Like Me doesn’t directly criticise the media, but challenges it through the various voices telling stories of their personal and intimate life experiences.
Authors Anna Whateley and Kate Gordon in When Everyone Else has a Conversation write about their imposter syndrome, explaining in two internal monologues, side-by-side, their personal experiences.
“I’ll feel like I am in a constant spiral of my brain gaslighting itself, a constant feeling of being an imposter in my own life,” writes Gordon. “But you can’t be an imposter can you, if everyone see’s right through you.”
Someone Like Me: An Anthology of Non-Fiction by Autistic Writers by Jo Case and Clem Bastow. UQP, $36.99.
Main images of Jo Case, left, and Clem Bastow, right, supplied.
