Book Review: We’ve Been Here All Along: Autistics Over 35 Speak Out in Poetry and Prose

We’ve Been Here All Along: Autistics Over 35 Speak Out in Poetry and Prose, a new anthology published in September of 2012, showcases the work of autistic writers throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The book is available as a download for Kindle on Amazon.com.

Available on Amazon.com

5-Star Reviews for We’ve Been Here All Along: Autistics Over 35 Speak Out in Poetry and Prose

People that have read We’ve Been Here All Along give it high praise and recommendations:

5.0 out of 5 stars
Just received it
November 12, 2012
By Steven D.

I’m now about 3/4 of the way through it and have found it to be fascinating. I’m 72 and self diagnosed with Asperger’s. At my age I don’t need an official pronouncement to tell me what I already know. And as I read the stories, I find myself reliving similar events in my own life. This is so encouraging! Please, write another…only longer.

5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful !
October 4, 2012
By Clay A.

As one of the contributors, you could expect me to be biased in favor of the book. And you’d be right, I think it’s really great, and gives excellent insight into the inner lives of those of us who grew up without any idea of how we were so different from everyone else, and what we’ve been put through by parents, siblings, school mates, co-workers, et al, for being so unacceptably different. Finally learning our diagnosis (at age 53 for me), really helps, explains a lot of things, but doesn’t mean we can magically change into whatever would be acceptable. Now, at age 66, the best thing I could do would be to help others to recognize themselves, and begin dealing with it. It’s so much better when one really knows and understands him/herself, and the real reasons for our former problems dealing with others.

5.0 out of 5 stars
A must-have book for all parents with Autistic Children and all Autistic Adults needing a little encouragement.
October 29, 2012
By Gavin B.

We’ve Been Here All Along is a collection of stories and poems from 22 people with autism who are over 35 years of age. People born before the late 1970s. Before the so-called “epidemic of autism” and before Asperger’s Syndrome was even recognised as a possible diagnosis.

This is a collection unlike any other, full of amazing stories of men and women from all walks of life coping and not coping with the “curve-balls” that modern society throws them. It contains some amazing displays of empathy, so long considered impossible for those in the spectrum and the stories often highlight the ways in which society meets or misses the needs of individuals with autism. I was particularly impressed to see so many stories by females on the spectrum – a group which is sadly under-represented in most books on autism.

Many of these stories and poems are about how these individuals have all found happiness, satisfaction and acceptance on their own terms and the hurdles they have had to overcome to get there. Not one of these individuals is resentful of their autism and all seem to have benefited greatly from knowing and understanding their label.

This is a very positive book which parents of children with autism should most certainly get. It provides a very clear roadmap to success and it closes with a chilling example of exactly how the wrong social mindset can destroy the life of an otherwise perfectly capable young person. Each of the people in this book could well have met similar fates if our society hadn’t become more mature and more tolerant in recent years.

I would urge everyone to pick up a copy of this brilliant book. It offers so much that other autism publications simply do not.

5.0 out of 5 stars
Buy it.
January 19, 2013
By Barbara

This is a fabulous and varied compilation of writings that is real, fresh, and readable. Thank you to all the writers for sharing their work. More! More!
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We’ve Been Here All Along: Autistics Over 35 Speak Out in Poetry and Prose is available as a download for Kindle on Amazon.com. Click below to purchase:

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