We're Not Broken
Changing the Autism Conversation
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“This book is a message from autistic people to their parents, friends, teachers, coworkers and doctors showing what life is like on the spectrum. It’s also my love letter to autistic people. For too long, we have been forced to navigate a world where all the road signs are written in another language.”
With a reporter’s eye and an insider’s perspective, Eric Garcia shows what it’s like to be autistic across America.
Garcia began writing about autism because he was frustrated by the media’s coverage of it; the myths that the disorder is caused by vaccines, the narrow portrayals of autistic people as white men working in Silicon Valley. His own life as an autistic person didn’t look anything like that. He is Latino, a graduate of the University of North Carolina, and works as a journalist covering politics in Washington D.C. Garcia realized he needed to put into writing what so many autistic people have been saying for years; autism is a part of their identity, they don’t need to be fixed.
In We’re Not Broken, Garcia uses his own life as a springboard to discuss the social and policy gaps that exist in supporting those on the spectrum. From education to healthcare, he explores how autistic people wrestle with systems that were not built with them in mind. At the same time, he shares the experiences of all types of autistic people, from those with higher support needs, to autistic people of color, to those in the LGBTQ community. In doing so, Garcia gives his community a platform to articulate their own needs, rather than having others speak for them, which has been the standard for far too long.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"When it comes to dispelling myths, I'm beginning with myself," writes Garcia, a journalist who is on the autism spectrum, in his thoughtful debut. Aiming to show what it's like "to be autistic across America," Garcia puts his own experience against "the larger context of autism's narrative." He profiles a wide array of people with autism (and some without): for example, Julia Bascom, executive director of the Autism Self Advocacy Network, describes how many employers mistakenly assume autistic people will thrive in STEM jobs. University of Texas graduate Cal Montgomery, meanwhile, recounts his experience being institutionalized and writes of how difficult it is to find "appropriate housing for autistic people." Garcia also covers gender and race disparities that plague those with autism: there is a "perception that autism is a white condition," he writes, and, as a result, "Black and brown people on the spectrum are overlooked." Garcia's strength is his ability to potently mix policy analysis (he covers the pros and cons of Medicaid's Home and Community-Based Services Waivers, for example), reporting, and personal experience. This powerful account is packed with insight.
