Willey has Asperger's syndrome, but never knew it until her daughter was diagnosed with it. She knew she was different from most people, and that some things were harder for her, but that was as far as it went. She was a high achiever in school, went through college and got her doctorate, married and had children. Asperger's did not stop her, and now, knowing why she is different, her past makes sense to her. This is her story of what life is like with Asperger's.
This is a very short book- shorter than any of the other books on living with Asperger's that I've read- and because of this there is a lack of detail about how she felt growing up and how she dealt with the challenges of not being neurotypical. I almost had the feeling that she didn't really feel that her Asperger's was a big deal. She has a very supportive family, both by birth and by marriage, and a few good friends, and that helps a lot when dealing with any health challenge.
While her personal story is interesting, the heart of the book are the appendices, brief articles on how to make one's life easier when one has Asperger's. Included are good ways to explain to the people around you, how to decide which people to tell, specific suggestions for getting through college with the various problems that come along with Asperger's, employment issues, keeping your home life in order, how to deal with sensory perception problems, and suggestions for the non-Asperger's who care about someone on the spectrum. This section is a short but packed full of useful information like a jewel box of hints.
Recommended for anyone with Asperger's and anyone with someone with it in their life.
Get more detail about Pretending to Be Normal: Living With Asperger's Syndrome.
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