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140 reviews for:
Kobiety i dziewczyny ze spektrum autyzmu. Od wczesnego dzieciństwa do późnej starości
Sarah Hendrickx
4.1 AVERAGE
140 reviews for:
Kobiety i dziewczyny ze spektrum autyzmu. Od wczesnego dzieciństwa do późnej starości
Sarah Hendrickx
4.1 AVERAGE
skepticalyarn's review against another edition
4.0
4.5. this was wonderful!! I learned so much about autistic girls and women, even though I thought I knew most everything already. I initially picked this book up for a paper I'm writing for school, and it will be very useful for that, but I also ended up really enjoying it. I loved that it included quotes from actual autistic women on a wide range of topics such as bullying, motherhood, special interests, and even gender identity. if you're an autistic woman or you know someone who is, definitely read this book. it will help you understand yourself and others so much better.
capickles's review against another edition
2.0
Not as progressive as I expected, has misinformation, isn't inclusive and leaves much out. In the absence of any other good literature it has some value, but leaves much to be desired
The first chapter misses. It references controversial theories. It completely fails to distinguish sex and gender (using the word gender when talking about developmental aspects where it is sex). It also emphasises inate neurological differences between sexes even though the general consensus is that there is little inate neurological difference and that socialed gender contributes far more to the different presentation in women.
In further chapters the concept of a 'female autism' is brought up which seems neither feminist nor helpful to autistic community. While women have a different presentation and intersectionality is a big issue here, it's not (as the author implies) a fundamentally different thing. At points it also implies autistics are less empathetic (a widely debunked claim) for instance claiming "teacher's, nurses, etc. are on the other end of the empathy scale". Particularly ironic as professions like teaching may overrepresent autistic people.
It also uses person first language which is generally not preferred by our community.
Of value: Chapter 9 (friendships) has personal experience that resonates, it also helps destigmatize few/singular/no friendships. Chapter 11 (partners) is similarly useful.
"Many women identify with a third sex" 🤦♀️ i.e. many (afab) people identify as non-binary. Chapter 10 is almost write off, author clearly has very little understanding of trans people, though the mention of asexuality was a nice suprise
Chapter 13 health: While it is nice to have "they are often experts in their own conditions" this chapter has many inaccuracies & gaps (I swear I'll crack if I see another ED section that only mentions anorexia (particularly as ARFID is common among autistics, there is a quote/reference that describes a eating habits that resemble ARFID but no mention of such a diagnosis)). It's mention of self harm and suicidal ideation does something to destigmatise.
floer009's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
So relatable and comprehensive! So helpful and insightful to hear comments from like-minded people.
wolfish333's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Ok, so, if you're an AFAB/trans individual who suspects or is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, this is a fantastic, helpful read. I will state the overall language in terms to gender pronouns isn't super inclusive throughout BUT, that is the only part that may be problematic(?) possibly.
However, I found this book to be just an amazing and validating and insightful read. I feel like it is quite thorough and includes information that helped click quite a bit of things into place that I know, for myself, I have often struggled to fully understand or grasp completely.
It was probably one of the best reads yet for me in regards to ASD!
However, I found this book to be just an amazing and validating and insightful read. I feel like it is quite thorough and includes information that helped click quite a bit of things into place that I know, for myself, I have often struggled to fully understand or grasp completely.
It was probably one of the best reads yet for me in regards to ASD!
beverfly's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
4.5
Useful for understanding autism presentation in girls, and goes into depth about the subjective experience from childhood and throughout life. I liked that it includes interviews with autistic women as well as just theory. If you feel different in some way and suspect you may have autism as a woman, I highly recommend.
lizzybethrae's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars rounded up. I have many thoughts on this book.
This is best for autistic women who were diagnosed late in life. I imagine this an extremely meaningful book for many of those individuals, who will read this, see their struggles written out in somebody's words, and feel very heard and validated. This book was a struggle for me to read at times because - as is to be expected, and what ultimately should be appreciated - the words are very honest. There are scary things in here to think about for the future of an autistic girl. The "good news" and advice was few and far between, and in fact, for that reason I would recommend any parents or loved ones reading this to get a better sense - read the last chapter ("Final Words") first. This is the most uplifting and hopeful part of the book. All anybody wants is to be respected and loved for who they are and the main takeaway or "advice" I gleaned from this as a parent is what I already knew: your child is perfect as they are. The world will make them feel strange and it's your job as their parent to start them out feeling whole and loved.
Other thoughts!
This book is essentially a thesis project, in book format, without the scientific peer review. The structure was a bit strange for me as someone who has WRITTEN thesis projects (based off of qualitative interviews no less!) and in that respect, this book is lacking in scientific analysis. It is the amalgamation of interviews for approximately 30 women or parents of girls with autism who responded to the autistic author's questionnaire. Mix it up with a solid lit review into the (unfortunately scant) scientific understanding of autism in girls, as well as the author's personal experience. That is this book. The author does acknowledge there are downsides to the way this was set up, and it's a downside common to many of the books on autism I've read. The sample size is small in the grand scheme of things - every person with autism is unique, because everyone is. No two autistic people will agree on absolutely everything. So, a survey response from 30 women is likely going to be skewed towards women who had potentially more extreme experiences, who felt strongly and deeply enough to provide all of the wonderfully thought out answers in this text. There was even brief mention somewhere in the book along the lines of the interesting difference between girls who were diagnosed young and their autism just "is what it is" and women who are diagnosed late who throw themselves into their identity and "act more autistic than ever." For my specific circumstance, I wanted more on the former and the book centered on the latter.
This book didn't deliver on what I was personally hoping for, but I don't think it is a bad book and believe others will benefit from reading it. I think anyone to whom autism matters benefits from reading widely on the subject (which should include this) and speaking with autistic adults. You won't understand all there is to know about autism from reading one or two books. The author has several long talks on Youtube that I saw prior to reading this and I do recommend those!
This is best for autistic women who were diagnosed late in life. I imagine this an extremely meaningful book for many of those individuals, who will read this, see their struggles written out in somebody's words, and feel very heard and validated. This book was a struggle for me to read at times because - as is to be expected, and what ultimately should be appreciated - the words are very honest. There are scary things in here to think about for the future of an autistic girl. The "good news" and advice was few and far between, and in fact, for that reason I would recommend any parents or loved ones reading this to get a better sense - read the last chapter ("Final Words") first. This is the most uplifting and hopeful part of the book. All anybody wants is to be respected and loved for who they are and the main takeaway or "advice" I gleaned from this as a parent is what I already knew: your child is perfect as they are. The world will make them feel strange and it's your job as their parent to start them out feeling whole and loved.
Other thoughts!
This book is essentially a thesis project, in book format, without the scientific peer review. The structure was a bit strange for me as someone who has WRITTEN thesis projects (based off of qualitative interviews no less!) and in that respect, this book is lacking in scientific analysis. It is the amalgamation of interviews for approximately 30 women or parents of girls with autism who responded to the autistic author's questionnaire. Mix it up with a solid lit review into the (unfortunately scant) scientific understanding of autism in girls, as well as the author's personal experience. That is this book. The author does acknowledge there are downsides to the way this was set up, and it's a downside common to many of the books on autism I've read. The sample size is small in the grand scheme of things - every person with autism is unique, because everyone is. No two autistic people will agree on absolutely everything. So, a survey response from 30 women is likely going to be skewed towards women who had potentially more extreme experiences, who felt strongly and deeply enough to provide all of the wonderfully thought out answers in this text. There was even brief mention somewhere in the book along the lines of the interesting difference between girls who were diagnosed young and their autism just "is what it is" and women who are diagnosed late who throw themselves into their identity and "act more autistic than ever." For my specific circumstance, I wanted more on the former and the book centered on the latter.
This book didn't deliver on what I was personally hoping for, but I don't think it is a bad book and believe others will benefit from reading it. I think anyone to whom autism matters benefits from reading widely on the subject (which should include this) and speaking with autistic adults. You won't understand all there is to know about autism from reading one or two books. The author has several long talks on Youtube that I saw prior to reading this and I do recommend those!
gia0203's review against another edition
The author makes sweeping generalisations that become frankly disrespectful in the sexuality and gender section. There was little nuance when speaking on autistic women’s relation to gender, and at times the author betrayed her internalised misogyny to the extent that it became uncomfortable. She used anecdotes from autistic women who hated and rejected other women, and while I understand this is one perspective, there weren’t any opposing views or arguments to this. Hendrickx seemed to cherry pick anecdotes that validated a particular theory that she had (cough it had hints of terf cough), but there has been and always will be feminist autistic women.
She also started to turn away from the facts and research that made the first half of the book actually good, and began to use expressions like “in my experience…” and “it appears that…” which suggested she was speaking from personal bias rather than fact. It also did feel at times that she was dismissive of the trans autistic experience. I think some of this can be chalked up to the time period, but even still I couldn’t continue reading considering all of this…
She also started to turn away from the facts and research that made the first half of the book actually good, and began to use expressions like “in my experience…” and “it appears that…” which suggested she was speaking from personal bias rather than fact. It also did feel at times that she was dismissive of the trans autistic experience. I think some of this can be chalked up to the time period, but even still I couldn’t continue reading considering all of this…