We're Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation

"This book is a message from autistic people to their parents, friends, teachers, coworkers and doctors showing what life is like on the spectrum. It's also my love letter to autistic people. For too long, we have been forced to navigate a world where all the road signs are written in another language."

With a reporter's eye and an insider's perspective, Eric Garcia shows what it's like to be autistic across America.

Garcia began writing about autism because he was frustrated by the media's coverage of it: the myths that the disorder is caused by vaccines, the narrow portrayals of autistic people as white men working in Silicon Valley. His own life as an autistic person didn't look anything like that. He is Latino, a graduate of the University of North Carolina, and works as a journalist covering politics in Washington, DC. Garcia realized he needed to put into writing what so many autistic people have been saying for years--autism is a part of their identity, they don't need to be fixed.

In We're Not Broken, Garcia uses his own life as a springboard to discuss the social and policy gaps that exist in supporting those on the spectrum. From education to healthcare, he explores how autistic people wrestle with systems that were not built with them in mind. At the same time, he shares the experiences of all types of autistic people, from those with higher support needs, to autistic people of color, to those in the LGBTQ community. In doing so, Garcia gives his community a platform to articulate their own needs, rather than having others speak for them, which has been the standard for far too long

ISBN-13: 9780358697145

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Harvest Publications

Publication Date: 08-02-2022

Pages: 320

Product Dimensions: 7.95h x 5.20w x 0.94d

ERIC GARCIA is an assistant editor at the Washington Post. Previously, he was an associate editor at The Hill and a correspondent for National Journal, MarketWatch, and Roll Call. He has also written for the Daily Beast, the New Republic, and Salon.com. Garcia is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and lives in Washington, DC.