Someone Like Me

 Someone Like Me

Reviewed By  Nan van Dissel       May 15, 2025

 

Author  Edited by Clem Bastow and Jo Case

Distributor:      UQP
ISBN:                 9780702268786
Publisher:         University of Queensland Press
Release Date:   April 2025  

Website:    https://www.uqp.com.au/books/someone-like-me 

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An anthology of non-fiction by Autistic writers

In April 1970, Bernard Rimland, Ph. D., a psychologist, and autism researcher, declared April as Autism Awareness Month. Dedicating a month to raising awareness, celebrating, and advocating for inclusion of autism was long overdue. Currently Australia is home to a rich and diverse Autistic and autism community, with more than 290,900 individuals identifying as autistic; as the authors in “Someone Like Me” point out, stereotypes are still often represented in the media.

In their introduction the editors Clem Bastow and Jo Case state that the aim of this collection is to challenge stereotypes; they certainly do that!  The 25 autistic contributors to this collection, by sharing their personal experiences and intimate insights into their inner and outer worlds, demonstrate that there is not one way to be autistic. Despite several of them receiving their diagnosis after childhood, they all reveal a great self-awareness and often a belated understanding of their younger self.  

For those wishing to gain a greater understanding of the complexities of Autism and neurodiversity, this book is an excellent source. The contributors give the reader an insight in their diverse life’s experience and their desire for acceptance by the community for their differences.  

Articles in this anthology make the reader aware that some work is still to be done in training of the practitioners who operate within our educational and medical systems; readers will be saddened and troubled by the school experiences of the writers.                                                                                                

Biographies, Non Fiction