Girls with Autism Becoming Women

Girls with Autism Becoming Women helps establish a historical tradition of memoirs and autobiographies by people on the autistic spectrum. All of the texts analyzed by Stone are written with the urgency of survival at stake by those who find themselves entrapped in various systems of neurotypical oppression. This is a helpful guide for teaching texts that can now be used in multi-disciplinary university classrooms and the discussion helps yield an understanding of neuroatypicality as a form of artistic living interdependently with others. Stone brings her background in Psychology, Sociology, and Disability Studies to bear on the importance of these works. – David T. Mitchell and Sharon L. Snyder, authors of Narrative Prosthesis: Disability and the Dependencies of Discourse and The Biopolitics of Disability: Neoliberalism, Ablenationalism, and Peripheral EmbodimentWodis details how girls on the Autism Spectrum transition from children to adults, recognizing seven women as a strong ‘minority within a minority.’ Education, careers, sexual development, and social networks paired with qualitative, interpretive research methodology validate fist-person autie-biographies. Her unique approach relies on grounded theory with systematic, constant comparison. Using Rosemarie Garland-Thomson’s situated theory, she socially contextualizes ASD from neuroqueer identity to religious constraints. I applaud her support of autism as an equally valid form of neurological embodiment. I highly recommend this book to those interested in the intersection of Autism Spectrum Disorder and female gender issues. – Telory D. Arendell, Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance, Missouri State University

Dr. Heather Stone Wodis has a Ph.D in Disability Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her doctoral thesis formed the basis of this book. She has extensive experience in autism and special education and has worked as an ABA therapist.