Australian fantasy writer and long time friend of Donna Williams, Caiseal Mor, has come out of the Autism Spectrum closet, with his newly published autobiography, A Blessing and a Curse: Autism and Me.
Caiseal grew up in rural Queensland in the 1960s, when virtually nothing was known about autism out here. Misdiagnosed multiple times, he was also severely physically abused by his parents with the sanction of the local doctor, to try to "cure" him of his autistic behaviours. Like Donna, he created what he calls "characters" to help him survive in the world.
I am halfway through this book and I am loving it. Caiseal is a born writer, and he evokes not just the horror of his treatment, but the beauty of the surroundings and his experiences of the world as an autistic person. This is not a book that gets you bogged down in the "trauma". It is a moving account of Caiseal finding himself, his own identity - that of an autistic man - and speaking out about it.
If you get a chance to read this, do.
A Blessing and a Curse: Autism and Me
Caiseal Mor
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
ISBN: 9781843105732
JKP page for A Blessing and a Curse
Caiseal's website
And his blog
Donna Williams interviews Caiseal on her blog about his life, and the book
There are some interesting points in this interview, in particular, the deception used by his former publishers and publicists, and the lengths they went to to hide Caiseal's autism from the public.
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On a completely different note, Hugh Laurie got awarded an OBE. I wish it had been a Knighthood, because "Sir Laurie" just sounds funny. Oh well, maybe next year. *lol*
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