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Donna Williams (born 1963 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is a best-selling author, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter and sculptor diagnosed with autism after being assessed as a psychotic infant in 1965 at age two,1 tested multiple times for deafness and labeled disturbed throughout childhood, before treatment for gut, immune and sensory perceptual disorders in adulthood.
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Books
Williams' first book was the autobiographical Nobody Nowhere: The Extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic Girl.2 It was an international bestseller with fifteen weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List.3 It was shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Prize for Literacy in 1992.4
Somebody Somewhere (1994)5 is the sequel to Nobody Nowhere that picks up the story of getting the first book published, and how that changed her life.
Later autobiographical works include Like Colour To The Blind (1998), and Everyday Heaven (2004).
She has also written several books on autism:
- Autism and Sensing: The Unlost Instinct
- Exposure Anxiety - The Invisible Cage: An Exploration of Self-Protection Responses in the Autism Spectrum
- Autism - an inside-out Approach: An Innovative Look at the Mechanics of Autism and Its Developmental Cousins
- The Jumbled Jigsaw: An Insider's Approach to the Treatment of Autistic Spectrum "Fruit Salads"
and a collection of her poetry and prose:
- Not Just Anything: A Collection of Thoughts on Paper published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Diagnosis controversy
In a 1996 radio interview, Kathy Gollan (a producer for Australian Broadcasting Corporation) raised questions about whether Williams is autistic or characteristic of persons with autism.6 According to the Gollan interviews, Dr Kathleen Dillon (a Professor of Psychology at Western New England College in Massachusetts) "thinks that Donna's symptoms owe more to the abuse she suffered as a child than to autism". Gollan said there was "serious doubt about whether Donna Williams is autistic, and her books should be read with that in mind".6 Fred Volkmar, an autism expert and the director of the Yale Child Study Center said, " ... it's hard for me to know what to make of Donna Williams. Donna Williams' books in my view, while very interesting, are not typical of the experience of at least the 20, 30 or 40 higher functioning autistic people that I have come to know fairly well."6 Williams said that these claims were an attempt to discredit her.7
Television documentaries
Williams was in several television documentaries:8
- My Experience With Autism, Emotion and Behavior , 1993, Eye to Eye with Connie Chung, USA (in English).
- Jam Jar , 1995, by Fresh Film in association with BBC Four , aired in the UK and was nominated for the Mental Health Media Award (in English).citation needed
- Krankheit als Schicksal (also titled Dann Verstehe Ich Auch Nur Bla, Bla, Bla ), 1995, by Spiegel TV, aired 1 January 1997 in Germany (in German).
- Yokosho Watashi No Sekai E "Jiheisho" Donna Williams , 1995, by NHK TV, Japan (in Japanese).
Music
Williams' first album, Nobody Nowhere was published in 2000 with Paul Farrer,9 two tracks from which (Sometimes and Beyond The When) feature in the TBS international TV series Things You Taught Me.10
In 2005, she followed this album with a second titled, Mutation which she made with an Australian music composer, producer and arranger named Akash. Both albums feature music and lyrics by Williams with the second album also featuring spoken word poetry.11
Art
Williams is a painter who is self taught and began painting in adulthood. She is also a sculptor who has completed life-sized sculptures. She is the older sister of the award-winning mural artist and Australian graffiti artist, Duel.12
Consulting and public speaking
Donna became a qualified teacher13 international public speaker14 and autism consultant15 She was invited to join the UK's Medical Research Council's review into the causes of autism in 2002, where she was elected to the lay-person's panel.16
Marriage
On 9 December 2000, she married Chris Samuel while living in England. In 2002 they moved back to her native Australia.17 He helped Donna create the auties.org website, for people on the autistic spectrum seeking to work towards self employment.18 Donna writes about him in her book Everyday Heaven.19
References
- ^ Autism; it ain’t all physical. | Donna Williams’ Blog
- ^ A World of Her Own - New York Times
- ^ The New York Times: Search for 'nobody nowhere best sellers'
- ^ Australian Writers Guild Writers Directory: Search Results
- ^ New & Noteworthy Paperbacks - New York Times
- ^ a b c "Autism - a special report by Kathy Gollan". Radio National Transcripts: The Health Report. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1996-07-29). Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
- ^ Williams, Donna. "Is Donna Williams really autistic ?". donna.inuk.com. Archived from the original on 2002-12-10. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
- ^ IMDb Pro : Donna Williams Business Details
- ^ CD Baby: Donna Williams: Nobody Nowhere
- ^ IMDbPro.com Free Trial Signup
- ^ CD Baby: Donna Williams: Mutation
- ^ Akin to the art of Rafael Villamil - the graffiti art of Duel | Donna Williams’ Blog
- ^ Amazon.ca: Reviews for Somebody Somewhere: Books: Donna Williams
- ^ Donna Williams
- ^ UNH Institute on Disability
- ^ http://www.mrc.ac.uk/consumption/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=4970&dDocName=MRC002394&allowInterrupt=1
- ^ Donna Williams: About Donna
- ^ Auties.org - Autism Employment: Meet the Team
- ^ Donna Williams: Everyday Heaven
External links
| Autism rights movement |
| Issues |
| Judge Rotenberg Educational Center |
| Karen McCarron |
| Organizations |
| Aspies for Freedom |
| Autism National Committee |
| Autism Network International |
| Autistic Self Advocacy Network |
| Wrong Planet |
| Events |
| Autistic Pride Day · Autreat |
| Philosophy |
| Neurodiversity · Neurotypical |
| Sociological and cultural aspects |
| People |
| Amanda Baggs · Michelle Dawson |
| Temple Grandin · Jim Sinclair |
| Donna Williams |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 6 January 2009, at 00:00.
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