Donna Williams
Nobody Nowhere: The Extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic (1992) is a ground-breaking work in autism, as it is the first personal insight provided into autism. Williams’s story is even more remarkable for the amount of abuse she suffered due to her disability—abuse from the person who should have been her strongest support: her mother. Despite the abuse, the poverty, the homelessness, Williams rose above it all to describe for all the inner world of the autistic; she also became an artist, a musician, and a writer, as well as an advocate for autistic people.
More by Donna Williams
Jumbled Jigsaw: An Insider’s Approach to the Treatment of Autistic Spectrum ‘Fruit Salads.’ 2005.
Everyday Heaven: Journeys beyond the Stereotypes of Autism. 2004 [Autobiography]
Not Just Anything: A Collection of Thoughts on Paper. 2004 [Poetry]
Exposure Anxiety--The Invisible Cage: An Exploration of Self-protection Responses in the Autism Spectrum and Beyond. 2003.
Autism and Sensing: The Unlost Instinct. 1998.
Autism, an Inside-out Approach: An Innovative Look at the Mechanics of ‘Autism’ and Its Developmental ‘Cousins.’ 1996.
Like Color to the Blind. 1996 [Autobiography]
Somebody Somewhere: Breaking Free from the World of Autism. 1994 [Autobiography]
About Donna Williams
Official Web site
Official Web site for Nobody Nowhere
Reviews of Nobody Nowhere
Garden, Rebecca, Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database, March 7, 2007.
Goleman, Daniel, “A World of Her Own," New York Times, February 21, 1993.
Kirkus Reviews
Matherne, Bobby, A Reader’s Journal, 1997.
Sayers, Bobby, BellaOnline: The Voice of Women
Smith, David Gary, Journal of General Internal Medicine, February, 1997.
Autism
Most of the books in the next three categories deal in one way or another with autism. The titles in this specific category are either fiction/poetry or clinical treatments of the illness.
Autism Society of America. The Voice of Autism.
“Autism Spectrum Disorder. Book and Resource List.” St. Paul Public Library
Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. 2003. [Fiction]
Leimbach, Marti. Daniel Isn’t Talking. 2006. [Fiction]
Watt, D. Alison and Carole Ruth Fields. Hurricane Dancing: Glimpses of Life with an Autistic Child. 2004. [Poems and Photographs]
Wiseman, Nancy. Could It Be Autism? A Parent’s Guide to the First Signs and Next Steps. 2006.
My World vs. The World
Donna’s world was very different from the world around her, a fact that at first she didn’t recognize, and then couldn’t comprehend why. In her memoir, she is able to describe her world to the reader, to illuminate how different it is from most readers’ worlds. Others, though, also inhabit worlds that are not familiar to many of us.
Cohen, Leah Hager. Train Go Sorry: Inside a Deaf World. 1994.
Grandin, Temple. Thinking in Pictures: And Other Reports from My Life with Autism. 1995.
Martin, Russell. Out of Silence: A Journey into Language. 1995.
Park, Clara Claiborne. Exiting Nirvana: A Daughter’s Life with Autism. 2001.
Tammet, Daniel. Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant. 2007.
The Artist Emerges
Donna became high-functioning, even with her language, and acquired several of the talents that autistic savants do, although few of them can do successfully all three of Donna’s accomplishments: art, music and writing. And many autistic savants are not able to acquire the language or the social skills to the extent that Donna has succeeded in doing.
Cameron, Lindsley. The Music of Light: The Extraordinary Story of Hikari and Kenzaburo Oe. 1998.
DeBlois, Janice and Antonia Felix. Some Kind of Genius: The Extraordinary Journey of Musical Savant Tony DeBlois. 2005.
Hermelin, Beate. Bright Splinters of the Mind: A Personal Story of Research with Autistic Savants. 2001.
Lerman, Jonathan. Jonathan Lerman: Drawings by an Artist with Autism. 2002.
Wiltshire, Stephen. Floating Cities: Venice, Amsterdam, Leningrad, and Moscow. 1991.
Mental Health Issues
Because of the abuse Donna suffered at home, she developed multiple personalities to help her cope. Part of the abuse came from the fact that her problems had never been properly diagnosed. Her mother thought she was crazy, and, suffering from psychophobia herself, could not cope with the thought of a child like that. When life at home became unbearable, Donna became homeless. Her story highlights the plight of so many with varying sorts of illnesses, mental or otherwise, misdiagnosed or misdirected and certainly not cared for.
Casey, Joan Frances and Lynn Wilson. Flock: The Autobiography of a Multiple Personality. 1991.
Lorenzo’s Oil [DVD] [The true story of two parents who refused to accept the medical diagnosis that nothing could be done for their son.]
Isaac, Rael Jean and Virginia C. Armat. Madness in the Streets: How Psychiatry and the Law Abandoned the Mentally Ill. 1990.
McDonnell, Jane Taylor. News from the Border: A Mother’s Memoir of Her Autistic Son. 1997.
Nasar, Sylvia. A Beautiful Mind: A Biography of John Forbes Nash Jr., Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. 1994.
Torrey, E. Fuller. Out of the Shadows: Confronting America’s Mental Illness Crisis. 2d ed. 1997.
Overcoming Adversity
There are any number of adverse conditions, and any number of stories about people rising above them: sometimes it may simply be dealing with insurmountable trials with true grace.
Barron, Judy and Sean. There’s a Boy in Here. 1991.
Bauby, Jean-Dominique. The Diving Bell and The Butterfly. 1997
Burke, Chris and Jo Beth McDaniel. A Special Kind of Hero: Chris Burke’s Own Story. 1991.
Little, Jean. Stars Come Out Within. 1990.
Prince-Hughes, Dawn. Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey through Autism. 2004.
(Created with the help of the Oxford County Workshop participants. All sites accessed July, 2007.
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.