Autism and Sensing: The Unlost Instinct

by Donna Williams

Expanding on themes of her previous book, Autism: An Inside-Out Approach, Donna Williams explains how the senses of a person with autism work, suggesting that they are 'stuck' at an early development stage common to everyone. She calls this the system of sensing, claiming that most people move on to the system of interpretation which enables them to make sense of the world. In doing so, as well as gaining the means of coping with the world, they lose various abilities which people with autism retain. She goes so far as to suggest that the constraints of space and time do not exist in the same way for autistic people, and that the emotional as well as the physical world is seen and therefore approached in a different way. The book provides a fascinating insight into the way that people with autism perceive the world, going into far more depth than Williams' previous books.

Genres: Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Nonfiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1998

About the author

Donna Williams is the author of Nobody Nowhere: The Extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic, in which she tells of her lifelong battle with autism -- a developmental disorder originating in infancy and characterized by self-absorption, repetitive and rigidly structured behavior, language dysfunction, and an inability to interact socially. Williams depicts in her book a world of disembodied color, pattern, and sound. At times she would madly rub her eyes and withdraw into "bright spots of fluffy color," attempting to escape what she called the "intrusive gabble" of other people. Torn between a dread of physical contact and a desire for emotional connection, Williams would often beat herself then assume a fetal position. "Hurting herself," as New York Times Book Review contributor Daniel Goleman relates, "or doing shocking things ... were ways to reassure herself that she did indeed exist."

Goleman explains that books such as Williams's provide a valuable insight into an unfamiliar world, "revealing to outsiders that what may seem bizarre and unpredictable follows its own internal logic, however strange." Writing for the Los Angeles Times Book Review, Chris Goodrich found that Williams "proves herself to be rigorously analytical and remarkably free of self-pity, despite a life fraught with fear, pain, and misunderstanding." Nobody Nowhere was written by Williams in her efforts to better understand her world. Only upon the advice of two therapists familiar with autism did Williams decide to publish her writings. Goleman noted that the work provides "a fascinating testimony to an intelligence undimmed by mental turmoil," while Goodrich proclaimed that "Nobody Nowhere is as brave a book as you'll ever read."

Williams told CA: "Autism is not a 'mental disorder' anymore than it is a communication, social, perceptual, or neurological disorder. It is a pervasive development disorder (PDD) affecting many areas of development. It is not a mental illness, nor is it synonymous with mental retardation."

Source: Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2003.
Source Database: Contemporary Authors
PEN (Permanent Entry Number): 0000115308

Reviews

[Anna Rós]

hef ekki getað hætt að hugsa um þessa bók síðan ég las hana.. áhrifamikil innsýn og konsept sem ég mun held ég aldrei gleyma

[Sally Duros · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned that those of us who are neurotypical in our brain and chemical structure experience consciousness as a seamless flow from self to other to shared moment, much like driving an automatic car. Those who are on the autistic spectrum have an experience that shifts more slowly from self to other, more like the experience of driving one's consciousness by stick shift.

This book reads almost like random poetry of the mind.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donna Williams is a role model for me. She knows what it means to be authentic to one's mental differences.

[Phyllis Antebi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a complex and fascinating exploration of what it feels like to be a high functioning autistic woman. Donna Williams brings us face to face with the richness of her dilemma and the tragedy of it as well. We all start out as she describes, in the realm of selfless-self. What Williams defines as, “A place of magic lost”. No self, no other is the experience of a boundary without an appearance. “It’s possible to experience an entity outside of oneself without taking account of its appearance, its surface or physical substance”. This is the world, the dilemma of struggling with an autistic mind set. The boundary less realm of no self, no other, is marked by an aversion to the interpersonal stage. This stage emerges to encompass a simultaneous self- other. The foundation of relating socially starts with a sense of self -no - other. The context of which these states are experienced is ultimately resolved in the stage where interpretation governs the reality of the interpersonal domain. Pre verbal and pre conscious stages exist prior to the resolution of an I Thou. This world, where systematized human values begin to replace the intuitive sensual
System of sensing, is a world where relating socially through actual bodies, begins.
I highly recommend Williams book for its cogent and thorough explorations of autism and it’s manifold dimensions. Personally, I found myself rereading the chapters which concern the transitions from state to stage. The book is unique for it demands one put aside any preconceived notions about Autism being primarily a brain disorder. For Williams and for her readers, she exposes the complexities of having hyper sensory intuitive understanding. Social cues and cultural dictates promote a reliance upon material reality. Williams shares her existential and spiritual journey reminding us that our human nature begins deeply in the sphere of the unknown.

[hawk · Rating 4 out of 5]

really enjoying this book, and so much resonates with my experience