Not Weird, Just Limited Edition: Inside the Autistic Mind – Book Review

My review of Not Weird, Just Limited Edition: Inside the Autistic Mind. I urge you to all to buy copies of this fabulous little book.

INTRODUCTION

You may remember that a couple of posts ago on here I mentioned a new book about Autism titled “Not Weird, Just Limited Edition: Inside the Autistic Mind”. Well the copy of that book that I ordered arrived yesterday, and now it is time for a quick review.

A LITTLE GEM OF A BOOK

The book, written by Faye Flint, who was diagnosed as autistic only at the age of 27 (regular readers of this blog will recall that I was 31 when I got my own diagnosis, so this is a situation that is more than a little familiar to me). It is 108 pages long, with the text very generously spaced. Each page is a separate event, recording a particular thought or train of thought, and each is beautifully clear, and for obvious reasons many are instantly recognizable to me. If you are autistic yourself, or know/ are related to someone autistic, or even just have an interest in autism this book, written as it is by someone who is actually autistic is an absolute must read. I am going to share some of my personal favourites (I have selected six out of 108 pages to quote – and the quotes will be indented and italicised to set them apart from my own writing:

First, page 31:

I was a child with Asperger’s.
I will remain an adult with Asperger’s.

Page 45:

No, I won’t ‘grow out’ of my Asperger’s.
Asperger’s is who I am.
But I have lived with myself for 30 years.
I have learned how to manage myself.
To be able to fit into society more appropriately.

Page 49 (I am bolding as well as italicising this one for reasons that should become obvious):

“But you don;t seem like my friend’s son who is autistic?”
Ahh, well maybe that’s because…
I am a grown autistic woman,
Not a 7 year old autistic child.
Yes, there really is a difference.

Page 64:

No, my Asperger’s cannot be cured.
Nor would I want it to be.
This took me a long time after such a late diagnosis.
However,
It has made me, me.
And I kind of like me.
In fact,
Many people say my ‘differences’ are what they love most!

Page 69 (another one that I chosen to bold as well as italicise)

Just ask.
If you want to know about the spectrum,
Ask someone who is on it!
We aren’t offended.
If anything,
It makes us happy that you care enough to want to learn.
There is nobody better to ask,
Than someone who goes through it,
Every.
Single.
Day.

Finally, page 81:

I promise I am listening to you.
But my brain has 2,644 other tabs open right now.
It is very distracting.

The book is available in paperback or on kindle (click here to order).

Cornish Winter Break 16: Falmouth – Getting There and Setting the Scene

The first of several posts in my Cornish Winter Break series relating to Falmouth.

INTRODUCTION

I continue my series about my Cornish Winter Break. Today’s is the first of what will be quite a few posts dealing with the last trip that I made as part of that holiday. This trip was unique in two ways among those I made during this holiday:

It was my idea
It featured a train journey

GETTING THERE

My mother and I got on the train at St Germans at 10:36, changed at Truro for the shuttle service to Falmouth Docks, and arrived at Falmouth just after 12:00. Falmouth was a planned port, first built in the late 16th century to provide an extra starting point for the export of china (it was intended to augment the existing port of Fowey, not challenge it – the person who planned it was actually a native of Fowey). It is a magnificent setting (my camera battery ran out before the end of the trip, but not before I had taken some fine pictures). After a pause to orient ourselves we headed for the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, which will get several posts of its own. The museum occupied as for quite some time, and then we had a brief look at the rest of the town, but I was getting tired by then, and we headed back not very long after finishing at the museum. I intend to revisit both the town and the museum.

PHOTOGRAPHS

P1300529 (2) — There are a number of these old train carriages in the grounds of St Germans – I am considering staying in one of them when I am in Cornwall in August.

P1300607 (2) — A superb mosaic at Falmouth Docks

Cornish Winter Break 15: Signature Dish

An account of cooking my signature dish to serve six, plus a mention of a new book about autism.

INTRODUCTION

This one will be somewhat different from the other posts in my Cornish Winter Break series – it is about the supper I cooked for six people near the end of my stay. I accompany it with pictures that don’t belong to any of the places I give specific posts to. Before getting into the main body of the post I have a small matter to attend to:

A NEW BOOK ABOUT AUTISM

“Not Weird, Just Limited Edition: Inside the Autistic Mind” is now available in kindle and paperback. It is by Faye Flint, who happens to be the niece of NAS West Norfolk chair Karan McKerrow. I am looking forward to reading it, and you may be sure that when I have done so I will give it a full blog post. If you wish to join me in ordering a copy click here – the kindle version is the third item down and the paperback is the sixth.

THE MEAL

I was cooking my signature dish – my own version of Lemony Chicken and Coriander (the original recipe is by Madhur Jaffrey, but I have made so many changes that I now claim this as entirely my own. For a description of the cooking process when I do it for myself visit this post. This version differed from my usual in several ways – I was cooking twice as much (it reheats superbly, so cooking three meals worth at once works well), my mother was cooking rice tog with it whereas I do pasta, and there was also going to be broccoli. Additionally, rather than having fresh lemons to squeeze I was using a bottle of lemon juice. The meal came together beautifully, the bottled lemon juice worked pretty much as well as the real thing, and the final product was excellent – a view evidenced by the fact that hardly a molecule of it was left at the end of the meal. I am aware that different cultures have different opinions on this matter, but as far I am concerned a total lack of leftovers is a sign of success in this situation.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

P1290808 (2) — The building in which my parent’s apartment is located.

P1300528 (2) — This bumper sticker was on a car parked near St Germans station.

Cornish Winter Break 14: The Shipwreck Museum at Charlestown

An account of my visit to the shipwreck museum at Charlestown, mainly told by way of photographs.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the latest post in series about my winter holiday in Cornwall. Following on from my last post about Charlestown, our focus today is the Shipwreck Museum there.

SHIPWRECKS ACROSS THE MILLENNIA

This museum features salvage from wrecks that span over 18 centuries. It is an interesting museum and I enjoyed my visit. The story of my visit is best told in…

PICTURES

Cornish Winter Break 13: Charlestown

An overview of the visit to Charlestown during my Cornish winter break, and a warning – this place is overhyped.

INTRODUCTION

For one reason or another it has been eleven days since I last found time to put up a blog post, but now it is time to continue with my series about my Cornish Winter Break. In my previous post I brought the curtain down on a remarkable day in which we visited Tintagel and then the Jamaica Inn. This post, the first of two about Charlestown, is somewhat different in nature.

A JOURNEY UNDER FALSE PRETENSES

The trip to Charlestown, a preserved Georgian port, was planned with high expectations due to a claim on its behalf that it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Actually it is under consideration for that status, and based on my visit has little chance of being awarded it. It has an attractive harbour, and a few other points of interest, notably a shipwreck museum that will form the subject of my next post, but it did not come close to living up the hype. Do not put Charlestown down as an absolute must visit – if you are staying very close then it may be worth your while, but it is not somewhere to attempt to make a day of.

PHOTOGRAPHS

As usual I finish with some pictures…

P1300147 (2) — Tin Ingots with coins set into them being sold as souvenirs.

P1300152 (2) — I bought this one for myself.

P1300504 (2) — These last pictures come from three different establishments we looked at while trying to find somewhere to have a coffee (yes it took three attempts to find somewhere suitable).

Cornish Winter Break 12: Jamaica Inn

Continuing my account of my Cornish holiday with a mention of the Jamaica Inn.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the latest installment in my series about my Cornish winter break. Just before I get to the main meat of the post there is…

MY NORFOLK HOSPICE STORY

I have been working with the Norfolk Hospice on an account of my story that they can use for publicity purposes. It is now online and can be read by clicking here.

JAMAICA INN

This features in the novels of Daphne Du Maurier and Rosamunde Pilcher (the latter is apparently a bigger draw these days). The Inn, a former coaching inn and smuggling hotspot, serves a good range of drinks at prices that are not sufficiently much over the odds to cause real annoyance. I opted as usual for their locally brewed real ale (they also had a few less local options, notably a couple of beers that clearly came from Dartmoor). The decorations are quite impressive, and there is an ever changing display of foreign banknotes pinned up by customers – my nephew added some Indonesian money while we were there. It was a fine adjunct to the Tintagel trip.