Autistic Adults Are Not Okay

by Victoria Lin Tanner

This book is a scream from a person who can’t take any more. It began as a self-indulgent cry into cyberspace, and evolved into a personal volume that also attempts to educate and deconstruct the often-oversimplified media image of autism. The contents are raw and unfiltered, written at my absolute lowest point at which I, like thousands of other autistic adults, felt that there was no way out. Autistic adults are struggling, and nobody seems to be listening. Almost all of the resources out there are for autistic children – but autism is a lifelong disability. What does this mean on an individual level? We struggle. Severely. I am just one autistic adult whose struggles have become too burdensome to manage. There are over five million autistic adults in the U.S. alone, and even more living undiagnosed. Many of us who came to the diagnosis late in life are grieving the lives we could’ve had if we’d known sooner, and if we’d had help for our challenges.

The complete lack of meaningful support is causing miserable, angry, and broken autistic adults. This book exposes the ways that our society blocks autistic peoples' access to basic life fulfillment. Organizations like Autism Speaks do nothing to concretely improve the quality of life for autistic people. More than anything, they spread misinformation and stigma. At this book’s conclusion, I offer a solution that would tangibly help autistic people more than any ABA therapy, gluten-free diet, supplement or vocational rehab program. From one utterly exhausted autistic person comes the question, and the answer to ‘WHY IS THERE NO HELP FOR US?’

Genres: Autistic Spectrum Disorder

154 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 12, 2023

Reviews

[Pug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although her blatant anger and suicidal ideation are shocking (I can't live with the overwhelming mental pain of being autistic in a world that mocks and dismisses my struggle. My life is incredibly lonely, frustrating, embarrassing, and unfulfilling), this book is transfixing. Rarely do you read such honest accounts of negative situations and painful feelings. I've read lots of books on ASD, always with the aim to gain better insight. This one certainly offered excellent insight, alright, but almost exclusively about all the negative, ugly things an autistic person might deal with on a day-to-day basis. Yikes.

I really feel for her and her struggles; I hope this book is her big break. But I hope and pray that anyone you know and love who's on the spectrum does not endure such struggles, and does not have to live with such pain and misery. :( That's heartbreaking.

Every life matters. Every human being is created in the image of God, and everyone deserves respect and kindness.

[Alexandra J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Autistic Adults Are Not Okay by Victoria Lin Tanner is a passionate, gripping, autobiographical plea for increased support services for autistic adults who appear to be functioning while, in reality, barely hanging on. The author, who has yet to receive a formal diagnosis, describes her struggles with the manifestations of her neurodivergent brain, mental health issues, and her family’s refusal to accept that she might be autistic. She has found some friends through online support groups, but those friends are also struggling, and their stress amplifies her own. The book ends with the assertion that autism is a disability and delivers an urgent message to increase support services and disability payments for “high-functioning” autistic adults who are unable to maintain employment due to autism or anxiety-related behaviors and reactions. I recommend this book to medical and mental health providers as well as family members of autistic children and adults.