This is a book about how an autism diagnosis saved the author's life. Paige Layle is an autism acceptance activist. In this book, she shares her deeply personal journey to diagnosis and living life autistically.
"For far too long, i was told I was just like everyone else. But I knew it couldn't be true. Living just seemed so much harder for me. This wasn't okay. This wasn't normal. This wasn't functioning. And it certainly wasn't fine."
This is one poignant quotation from the book that moved me beyond anything I have read about autism. People who live with this condition know first-hand that their life is anything but normal. Yet they are told over and over by well-meaning people that it is normal.
Adding to the confusion and frustration, on the outside, Paige Lyne was normal. She lived in the countryside with her mom, dad, and brother, Graham. She went to school, hung out with friends, and all the while.
However, on the inside things were quite a bit more complicated. Everything seemed so much harder than it had to be. A break in routine threw off her whole day. If her teacher couldn't answer why in class, she dissolved into tears. Yet, she was unable to articulate her own confusion or explain her lack of control to anyone.
But on the outside, Paige was normal. She smiled in photos, picked her feet up when her mom needed to vacuum instead of fleeing the room, and earned good grades. She had friends and loved to perform in local theater productions. It wasn't until a psychiatrist said she wasn't doing okay that anyone believed that something wasn't quite right with Paige.
In this book, Paige shares her frustrating story as an autistic woman who was diagnosed later in life. It was a heartbreaking process that took her to the edge of desperation so many times. Yet, she prospered and thrived. Now, in this book, Paige challenges stigmas, taboos, and stereotypes while learning how to live her authentic, autistic life.
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