"This is a story of two battles, a battle to keep out 'the world' and a battle to join it."She inhabits a place of chaos, cacophony, and dancing light--where physical contact is painful and sights and sounds have no meaning. Although labeled, at times, deaf, retarded, or disturbed, Donna Williams is autistic--afflicted by a baffling condition of heightened sensory perception that imprisons the sufferer in a private, almost hallucinatory universe of patterns and colors. Nobody Nowhere is Donna's story in her own words--a haunting, courageous memoir of the titanic struggles she has endured in her quest to merge "my world" with "the world."

NOBODY NOWHERE

Biographies & Memoirs

WILLIAMS, Donna

Community & Culture

Doubleday, Canada

Nobody Nowhere

DOUBLEDAY

Somebody Somewhere: Breaking Free From The World Of Autism

In her first book, Nobody Nowhere, Donna Williams gave readers an incredible and unprecedented guided tour of the world of autism--a mysterious and little-understood condition.  From her earliest years, Donna's world was dominated by disembodied patterns, sound, color, and movement.  Cut off from her emotions and unable to make any true connections with other people, Donna lived largely in isolation, avoiding the incomprehensible actions of others yet yearning to be normal.  After she endured twenty-five years of imprisonment, a diagnosis of autism enabled her to take the first steps toward freedom, to begin the arduous trek from her "world under glass" to the real world.Somebody Somewhere chronicles the four years since Donna's diagnosis and continues the journey she began in Nobody Nowhere.  Certain that she can no longer survive by straddling two opposing worlds, Donna vows to abandon entirely the comforting isolation of her universe of one.  The decision has brought both agonies and rewards.  She describes her trial by fire as she abandons the two alternate identities she used to hide behind, Carol and Willie, and goes forth nakedly as Donna alone.  She recounts her intensive sessions with her therapist, where she learns devastating truths behind her misconceptions of the real world.  She overcomes the prejudice of teachers and classmates in her quest to obtain a degree in education and recounts her breakthrough working with autistic children.  She comes to terms with the unwelcome --and for someone with autism, the particularly horrifying--demands of instant celebrity when her first book becomes an international bestseller.  She describes the pain and joy of recognizing for the first time her own emotions.  She learns to own her self and to love the person she discovers in the mirror.  Most poignantly of all, she learns she can at last reach out to others for friendship and finds the pleasure of a "special-ship" with a kindred soul.Once again, Donna Williams proves herself a gifted gatekeeper, that rare individual who can illuminate a shadow world that continues to be deeply misunderstood, who can shatter the myths of autism and rise above its greatest challenges.  Donna's journey is far from over, but readers will cheer her tenacity, eloquence, and courage.

Somebody Somewhere: Breaking Free From the World of Autism

In her first book, Nobody Nowhere, Donna Williams gave readers an incredible and unprecedented guided tour of the world of autism--a mysterious and little-understood condition. From her earliest years, Donna's world was dominated by disembodied patterns, sound, color, and movement. Cut off from her emotions and unable to make any true connections with other people, Donna lived largely in isolation, avoiding the incomprehensible actions of others yet yearning to be normal. After she endured twenty-five years of imprisonment, a diagnosis of autism enabled her to take the first steps toward freedom, to begin the arduous trek from her "world under glass" to the real world. Somebody Somewhere chronicles the four years since Donna's diagnosis and continues the journey she began in Nobody Nowhere. Certain that she can no longer survive by straddling two opposing worlds, Donna vows to abandon entirely the comforting isolation of her universe of one. The decision has brought both agonies and rewards. She describes her trial by fire as she abandons the two alternate identities she used to hide behind, Carol and Willie, and goes forth nakedly as Donna alone. She recounts her intensive sessions with her therapist, where she learns devastating truths behind her misconceptions of the real world. She overcomes the prejudice of teachers and classmates in her quest to obtain a degree in education and recounts her breakthrough working with autistic children. She comes to terms with the unwelcome --and for someone with autism, the particularly horrifying--demands of instant celebrity when her first book becomes an international bestseller. She describes the pain and joy of recognizing for the first time her own emotions. She learns to own her self and to love the person she discovers in the mirror. Most poignantly of all, she learns she can at last reach out to others for friendship and finds the pleasure of a "special-ship" with a kindred soul. Once again, Donna Williams proves herself a gifted gatekeeper, that rare individual who can illuminate a shadow world that continues to be deeply misunderstood, who can shatter the myths of autism and rise above its greatest challenges. Donna's journey is far from over, but readers will cheer her tenacity, eloquence, and courage.

Professionals & Academics

The bestselling author of Nobody Nowhere and Somebody Somewhere offers an intimate diary of the universal joys and stresses of falling in lo ve as she continues her struggle with autism. "Donna Williams isn't just teaching us what it is like to be austistic. She is teaching us what it is like to be human."--Deborah Tannen, New York Times Book Review.

LIKE COLOUR TO THE BLIND

NOBODY NOWHERE.

Somebody Somewhere

Doubleday Canada, Limited

Random House Value Publishing

This is the last of three volumes of autobiography, in which Donna Williams recounts the story of her struggle with autism. Following on from "Nobody Nowhere: The Remarkable Autobiography of an Autistic Girl" and "Somebody Somewhere: Breaking Free from the World of Autism", this volume tells of Donna's relationship with Ian, a man with difficulties similar to her own. She describes how they learn to admit to, and live with, their feelings for one another, as they search for a true sense of self.

Like Color to the Blind

Medical Books

BOOKS-ON-TAPE, INC.

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