Somebody Somewhere: Breaking Free From The World Of Autism - Softcover

Williams, Donna

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0385255004 ISBN 13: 9780385255004

Publisher: Doubleday Canada, 1995

Synopsis

In her first book, Nobody Nowhere, Donna Williams gave readers an incredible and unprecedented guided tour of the world of autism--a mysterious and little-understood condition.  From her earliest years, Donna's world was dominated by disembodied patterns, sound, color, and movement.  Cut off from her emotions and unable to make any true connections with other people, Donna lived largely in isolation, avoiding the incomprehensible actions of others yet yearning to be normal.  After she endured twenty-five years of imprisonment, a diagnosis of autism enabled her to take the first steps toward freedom, to begin the arduous trek from her "world under glass" to the real world.

Somebody Somewhere chronicles the four years since Donna's diagnosis and continues the journey she began in Nobody Nowhere.  Certain that she can no longer survive by straddling two opposing worlds, Donna vows to abandon entirely the comforting isolation of her universe of one.  The decision has brought both agonies and rewards.  She describes her trial by fire as she abandons the two alternate identities she used to hide behind, Carol and Willie, and goes forth nakedly as Donna alone.  She recounts her intensive sessions with her therapist, where she learns devastating truths behind her misconceptions of the real world.  She overcomes the prejudice of teachers and classmates in her quest to obtain a degree in education and recounts her breakthrough working with autistic children.  She comes to terms with the unwelcome --and for someone with autism, the particularly horrifying--demands of instant celebrity when her first book becomes an international bestseller.  She describes the pain and joy of recognizing for the first time her own emotions.  She learns to own her self and to love the person she discovers in the mirror.  Most poignantly of all, she learns she can at last reach out to others for friendship and finds the pleasure of a "special-ship" with a kindred soul.

Once again, Donna Williams proves herself a gifted gatekeeper, that rare individual who can illuminate a shadow world that continues to be deeply misunderstood, who can shatter the myths of autism and rise above its greatest challenges.  Donna's journey is far from over, but readers will cheer her tenacity, eloquence, and courage.

About this title

Book Description:

Sequel to the international bestseller Nobody Nowhere takes us through the next phase of Williams' journey

From the Publisher:

"This book deserves every superlative a reviewer can muster."
-The Globe and Mail

"To be able to do what [Donna Williams] has done, by age 27, and to write about it so poignantly and so articulately is to function on a higher level than most 'normal' folk achieve in a lifetime."
-Boston Globe

"By illuminating her own unique perceptions, she allows us to understand our own perceptions as never before...And oh, can she write."
-The New York Times Review of Books

"The artistically gifted Williams continues to build a bridge between 'my' world and 'the'world."
-Publishers Weekly

"Somebody Somewhere...provides a shining light into the dark mystery of autism."
-Detroit Free Press

About this edition

• Publisher: Doubleday Canada
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0385255004
• ISBN 13: 9780385255004
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 252