This is part strong recommendation and part wanting to know thoughts of others who have read it. :)

Fern Brady is a scottish comedian who grew up with undiagnosed autism in a very catholic small town.

It’s a brutally honest and personal story, and she manages to write everything in a way that I found captivating. She can describe situations of absolute torture in a way that makes them seem both heartbreaking, and almost funny in their absurdity. Like a scene where she got recommended an app to help her with meltdowns and describes how she is crying and punching her fist bloody against her living room wall, while with her other hand opening an app and seeing suggestions like “think of a puppy!”, “count to ten and think of the last nice thing you ate!”

For me, the description of a years long struggle to push through a medical system with little and outdated understanding of autism resonnated deeply.

          • fairchild@sopuli.xyzEnglish
            2·
            2 months ago

            I see. Hoped it would be available on some platform I use but that’s unfortunately not the case, so I’d rather buy the book then. Just have a hard time reading anything else than books required for my job, and then,… I already got a few book recommendations concerning autism after my diagnosis earlier this year, so it would have been easy to just listen to it :D I’ll dig through her stuff on other platforms however, so thanks for the recommendation! And if there’s more great books/content to share, let me know, would be appreciated!!

            • tiotok@lemmy.world
              3·
              2 months ago

              I usually borrow audio books from my library. You could check to see if your library has that option.

              • fairchild@sopuli.xyzEnglish
                3·
                2 months ago

                Great tip, thanks, I tend to overlook that option. My local library does offer audiobooks indeed but as I don’t reside in a english-speaking country I highly doubt it would be available.

  • iamdisillusioned@lemmy.world
    3·
    2 months ago

    I loved that she narrated the audio book, her accent is fantastic! I enjoyed her memoir. I don’t really remember how it ended, so maybe that part could have been tightened up. I mean, she is still so young, I wouldn’t expect her to have worked out a big overarching moral for her story yet. I hope she writes another as her career progresses.

  • christophski@feddit.ukEnglish
    3·
    2 months ago

    This is on my list to read but if anyone wants another recommendation I am currently reading Why Can’t I Just Enjoy Things by Pierre Novellie which is about his diagnosis, it is thoroughly researched and Fern Brady’s quote is on the front saying how good she thinks it is.

  • Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    2·
    2 months ago

    She’s brilliant 🙂

    I keep forgetting to buy anything of hers though because my brain translates her name to Fern Britton, and I think of the wrong person 🙈

  • Akasazh@feddit.nl
    2·
    2 months ago

    I know her from her appearance on ‘Taskmaster’.

    I can recommend watching that season.

    • Deestan@lemmy.worldOP
      2·
      2 months ago

      I was heartbroken when it ended. Was a big fan of Dara already, now I love all of them.