Publisher Description

What's it like to realise you're autistic? And how do you start to ask the world around you to accept that?From the outside looking in, Sandra Thom-Jones was living a successful life- she had a great career, a beautiful home, a caring husband, two loving sons and supportive friends. But from the inside looking out, she was struggling to make sense of her place in the world, constantly feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, and convinced that her challenges with daily life just meant that she had to try harder.In Growing In to Autism, Thom-Jones tells the story of gradually realizing that she was autistic, and that she experienced the world in ways which were markedly different from neurotypical people. This was a profound awakening - throughout her life she had been masking her true self and this effort had come at great physical, mental and emotional cost. Applying her skills as an experienced and expert researcher, Thom-Jones delved into the literature on autism in adults, learning much more than she already knew as a parent of two autistic boys.Part personal, funny, endearing and enlightening memoir, and part rigorous explication of the nature of autism, Growing in to Autism is a book for all people, memorably conveying the need for better understanding and ways of making space for a group of individuals in our society who have so much to offer.

Author Biography

Professor Sandra Jones is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Engagement) at Australian Catholic University. She provides leadership, advice and support for ACU's community engagement strategy, including strategic frameworks that implement the new measurement of research engagement and impact.She has undertaken numerous research projects-- in partnership with the autistic community on the experiences of autistic people and the knowledge and attitudes towards autism in the community; including research that won the Autism CRC's 2019 award for research translation. Her research includes a 12-month reflection study on the experiences of more than thirty autistic academics from around the world.In 2018 she established ACU's Autism Inclusion Program, which aims to improve the attraction, retention and positive outcomes of autistic people in higher education. She is a passionate advocate for the inclusion of autistic people in all aspects of society.

Review

Sandra Thom-Jones had a successful life before she knew she had autism. Or, more specifically, before she had a diagnosis of autism. A well-respected researcher in her 50s, Thom-Jones knew all her life that she was different and navigated the neurotypical world without this book to help; her deeply emotional autobiography mean others don't have to. In *Growing in to Autism* the author walks us through her personal experience of autism both with and without the support and recognition that diagnosis brought. Her sons were diagnosed before she was (historically, it's less likely that a girl or woman will be diagnosed with autism, though not necessarily less likely that they will be autistic) and Thom-Jones's motivation to write ultimately came from her family. With her first book, she has hit it out of the park. Thom-Jones uses short, precise sentences to articulate big ideas and convey profound experience. Her writing seems to mirror some of the ways in which she experiences life: it is ordered, intelligent and effective. So much of the author's life has been translating the neurotypical world when that world would not do the same for her. This isn't really a book about hardship, but about achievement. *Growing in to Autism* will both break the reader's heart and make them envious of the author's profound abilities. Readers who enjoyed Temple Grandin's *Thinking in Pictures* might enjoy this book. *Rebecca Whitehead is a freelance writer from Melbourne.*

Promotional "Headline"

What's it like to realise you're autistic? And how do you start to ask the world around you to accept that?

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