The ABC’s of Life on the Spectrum

A collection of colourful essays about life with Asperger's/Autism/ASD spectrum... 26 personal stories from people around the world, bringing together our collective experiences, feelings and thoughts about living on the spectrum From the Preface to the book... Every story I read resonated with my own experiences, bringing up lots of old memories, pain, feelings, and frustrations... with very little joy. I promised myself I would make a 'positive' book about life on the spectrum, and so I hope the reader takes away not only the common suffering, but also the incredible uniqueness of that which we now 'label' Asperger's, Autism, or ASD My hopes are that once more people realise how the wrongly used, and now even clich the words of 'special' and 'gifted' are for people living on the spectrum, we will simply become more 'accepted' and honoured within society. I often tell people, if I had to choose a friend between a 'normal' person, and someone on the spectrum, I would almost always choose someone one the spectrum - they (we) are some of the most loyal, honest, trustworthy, warm and friendly people I know... yet, all too often, only the 'negative' aspects of the spectrum are highlighted in social media, the news, etc. I believe it is time to accept who we are, honour ourselves, and take our rightful place in the world as we are - not behaviourally 'modified' for general public consumption It has been a long, intense journey to get to this point, and I would like to extend a big, heart-felt thanks to all those who helped along the way... I couldn't have done it without you! Includes contributions from... Carla Betancourt, Chante Douglas, Genevieve Osteria, Inga Kerry, Jennie Quinn, Jennifer Reynolds, Lakenya Colenburg, Lindsey Wade, Morgan Davis, Saira Zuberi, Whitney Hodgins ...and many additional anonymous writers Cover Design by Janine Poon