Nobody Nowhere: The Remarkable Autobiography of an Autistic Girl

Nobody Nowhere is an autobiography about Donna Williams' life. It is about a woman who was raised in an abusive home where nobody understood her, a woman who was socially isolated from almost everyone, a woman who displayed many faces in order to survive in the outside world, a woman who struggled for a large part of her life not knowing why she was like this. This story is about a woman who lived in her own world for so long, but who eventually found her way to the enlightening label autistic. This story is written in an unconventional style. Her words are lovely, and everything written is easily understood. However, the order of the "chapters" can make it hard to follow at times. This is not to say that this book was inadequately written. On the contrary, this order artistically demonstrates what it is really like to be autistic. The words are all there, but it is up to you to decipher them. As someone who recently found the label "autistic" myself, I feel as though this book is invaluable to me. This book illustrates situations that I am far too familiar with. It captures the feelings and thoughts that I have felt and thought myself. Not every autistic person is exactly like Donna. In fact, I feel that her story most pertains to those who struggled through their childhood not diagnosed, without a community to rely on. However, that is not to say that this story doesn't pertain to others as well. In fact, there is still a lot that can be learned here by parents of autistic children or by everyday people who are curious about those with this disorder. At the end of the story, there is even some tips on how to help or interact with autistic children. And, she provides some insight to common behaviors. If you are curious about autism, this is a great book for you to read, but it is best read after you have already gained some general knowledge about autism first. If you are a parent with an autistic child, this is a great book for you to read, but autistic people are people, so do not assume that every situation can be applied to your child as well. If you think that you are on the spectrum but have never been diagnosed, this is a great book for you to read, but understand that this book will not be able to give you all of the answers that you might crave. Overall, this is a wonderful book, and I am quite happy to have it in my collection.

This autobiography is compelling, it draws the reader in. It tells the story of an autistic woman who only as an adult finds out that this is the label that best fits her. I don't agree with some of the reviews here that this book is an "awkward fiction" rather than an accurate account of autism. Donna does not even use the label until towards the end of the book, so it is unlikely she was simply trying to capitalize on the label to write a book. The book relates how she grapples with being different, it tells us of her journey of trying to understand why this is the case, and of trying to overcome some of her difficulties related to being different, and autistic. Of course, as any other person her life experiences are colored by various factors, rather than one specific label. In Donna's case, she was affected quite considerably by abuse in her home environment. More generally, she was often misunderstood by people. An interesting aspect of this book is that it makes visible that being autistic is made more difficult by the lack of understanding and accommodation of others. Donna's autistic features made her vulnerable to abuse and being mocked. Fortunately she did meet some compassionate people and a few kindred spirits along the way. Donna develops different personalities to cope with being different. I noticed that for some people posting a review here this means that her account testifies less to autism and more to multiple personality disorder. While reading this book, I did also think of multiple personality disorder but I did not see this as invalidating her account of autism. I felt that she was conveying how in her personal journey to cope with difference, she developed multiple personalities to protect herself and to be able to communicate with the world without making herself too vulnerable, and to try to pass as neurotypical.. Overall, I think this book is well-written and provides good insight in what it could be like to be autistic.

I haven't read it yet but I guess it good because it was recommended in a group session.

A very good secondhand copy so I am pleased with that. The book itself is very interesting to read and although I am only a few pages in I look forward to reading the rest. It is fairly intense and I will pace my reading of it for that reason. I know it is a book that will take me on a journey as a reader and it was recommended to me by someone I respect.

Actually Donna Williams felt different and distant from 'the world', and became withdrawn into 'her world', where she played 3 characters - Carol, Willie, and Donna herself. And It must be extremely hard to get into 'the world' because she had to face a whole bunch of social minefields not only at school but also at home, where her evil mother and older brother terribly bullied Donna. So I suppose a nobody nowhere means she had nowhere to be comfortable in 'the world'. I suspect like most autistic/Asperger people she saw everything differently from other people, who often called her eccentric. After all she was trying to get into 'the world' as she dealt with various kinds of people including autistic ones. I guess it means the starting point of a somebody somewhere.

helped me understand some of my personal issues.

本に非常に感銘を受けました。 注意。CDのほうは彼女の作詞作曲で歌っている歌です。CD一枚です。私は買ってから知りました。慣れていないと判りにくいと思います。大変によいのですが、朗読だと思っていたのは、大違いでした。本を読み、そのうえ朗読も聴こうというほど、確かに大変に敬意と共感を持っています。が、歌まで、これだけの価格で買って所有しようといは思っていなかったのです。CDの購入を考えている方は承知しておいてくださいね。 もちろん、本は非常に感銘を受けました。続編を今は読んでいます。続々編も全て読むつもりです。 (外国の人のために英語でも書いておきます。For English speaking people, I'll write above also in English.) I was profoundly impressed by her book. I read book 1, "Nobody Nowhere". I'm on the way of reading the sequel, second book "Somebody Somewhere", which is also an magnificently impressing and healing epic narrative. I'm of course determined to read the third sequel. I would like to remind the people who are considering to purchase the audio CD. The CD is her songs, not a recitation of the book. Music is great. She wrote the words and composed melodies. She has an enormous singing prowess. I would like all you to understand it.