Often Disturbing but Ultimately Uplifting
Review of the Myriad Editions paperback edition (UK Sept 2019/N.Am. Jan. 2020)

"I chose the title because I thought it was funny. There's no one way to be autistic, there are millions. Every autistic person is their own person with their own identity, and I wanted to get that message across. My experience is my experience. It might not have been yours. But we might have shared some of it." - How to be Autistic pg. 127

Charlotte Amelia Poe won the inaugural Spectrum Art Prize (2018) for their video work How to be Autistic, the text of which is printed as the epigraph for this same-titled memoir.

Now 30-year-old Charlotte was not diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum until they were 21 years old. This was despite a young lifetime of anxiety disorders and social withdrawal which you would have thought would have provided some clues to medical professionals, who instead seem to have only prescribed a cocktail of various tranquilizer medications. The beginnings of the diagnosis came about through their mother's chance discoveries about the spectrum.

The memoir is told in flash backwards and forwards as it is grouped around various topics. Several of these are about the coping mechanisms and hobbies (including body modification and fan-fiction writing) that helped Poe to persevere and work towards becoming a writer, which was always their goal. There are already several zine and poetry collections listed on Goodreads in their name, so this memoir is not actually their first work. Some samples of the poetry are included throughout the memoir. A novel is already finished as well.

I wouldn't categorize myself as being on the spectrum, but rather that I am very OCD and introverted. I did however come in rather high on one of the older AQ tests that Poe refers to. This was something through Wired Magazine from about 10 years ago. Those sorts of aspects made me feel especially empathetic to this memoir and several characteristics and obsessions of Poe's personality. I encourage everyone to read this in order to better understand the world of the autism spectrum and indeed that of all spectrums e.g. gender, sexual, social, etc.

Trivia and Link
The Spectrum Art Prize ("Reflecting the creativity, diversity and excellence of artists with autism.") appears to be a biennial award as the 2nd Prize is expected to be announced in early 2020. Follow news about that here. ( )