My World is not Your World
by Alison Hale

I found this book fascinating and illuminating. It is the autobiography of a young woman of high intelligence but disabled because she was born with an autistic spectrum disorder. She has a variety of autism which is known as Asperger's syndrome.
 
Alison Hale describes in vivid detail the motor and perceptual problems she experienced from birth and her major difficulties in understanding other people and how to communicate with them. As her title suggests, she feels that she lives in a different world from other humans who are not autistic. But, despite the difficulties and the pain of the effort, she is trying to find a way of fitting in to a small corner of the 'normal' world by using her special gifts in the fields of mathematics and electronics.
 
The book gives a remarkable insight into the world of autism. It calls into question things that the rest of us take for granted and shows how much our ideas of outward reality depend upon our perceptions. It would provide an invaluable guide for parents and professionals who want to understand people with autistic spectrum disorders. It would also be of great interest to anyone with an enquiring mind who enjoys thinking about the world from an entirely new and different point of view.
 
Dr Lorna Wing, MD, FRCPsych.
Consultant Psychiatrist