• Understanding Autism from the Inside

    “Academics came easily to me. The rest of life—not so much.”
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REVIEWS

What Readers are Saying…

“The author’s descriptive style is simple and straightforward and is quite effective in making the story vivid and real.” – Maria Beltran for Readers’ Favorite

“I’m recommending this book to everyone I know who might be I involved, even peripherally, with autism.” – Jane McBride, Kindle Book Review

“An autobiography that is well-organized, well-crafted, filled with honest gut wrenching drama, and reads like a good mystery.” – Dr. Robert Rose for Readers’ Favorite

Recommend it highly to anyone who has a child, relative or loved one struggling with autism.” – Lisa F.

Words cannot express how thankful I am that Jeannie Davide-Rivera shared her story.” – Melissa W.

Read more…

AMAZON REVIEWS

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Reader’s Favorites Full Reviews

 

**** KINDLE BOOK REVIEW 5.0 out of 5 Stars

“5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling and heart-rending, April 22, 2013 By

The Kindle Book Review (Indianapolis, IN) – See all my reviews

This review is from: Twirling Naked in the Streets and No One Noticed; Growing Up With Undiagnosed Autism (Kindle Edition)

The Kindle Book Review received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is a compelling memoir by Jeannie Davide-Rivera telling her story about growing up with undiagnosed Aspergers, which is a form of high functioning autism. As an adult, she finally got a diagnosis that pretty much explained her entire life in a nutshell. When my son was diagnosed at age three and I started learning all I could about autism, I was astounded-not at his diagnosis, but at the realization that I had it, too. I have never been diagnosed, but don’t feel I need it at this point. Jeannie and I could’ve been identical counterparts in parallel universes. The stories she tells are mine. Her feelings are mine. Her experiences are mine.

I think that usually when other people, even experts, encounter autistic people, figuring them out is like staring backwards through the peephole of a locked door. But here we have an actual autistic person telling what it’s like from the inside. That kind of empathy and understanding is the best gift the parent of a child with autism can give that child.
This book was very well and logically done by a woman who is intelligent and articulate. I’m recommending this book to everyone I know who might be I involved, even peripherally, with autism.

Jane McBride, Kindle Book Review”

**** READER’S FAVORITES BOOK REVIEW

“Twirling Naked in the Streets and No One Noticed

Rating: 5.0 stars

Reviewed by Maria Beltran for Readers’ Favorite

Suffering from autism, Jeannie is an intelligent child who cannot comprehend the context of words, nor their meanings and social implications. This is in 1974 when awareness of autism and other mental conditions are not as high as today. Her family thinks she is a stubborn, picky, hyper-sensitive little girl with plenty of imaginary friends. She attends school, studies ballet and exhibits a number of strange behaviors that are simply explained away. In middle school, she thinks nobody understands her. Excelling in academics, she struggle through life as a college student at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. After this, she becomes a bank teller, cashier, waitress, bartender, lab assistant, undercover investigator, emergency medical technician, secretary, dance instructor, medical transcriptionist, correctional officer, and a writer. Simply unable to keep a job, the 23 year old Jeannie gets married and have children. She floats in life, feeling alone and without purpose, looking for some kind of explanation. This is her struggle, her life.

Life is hard enough without being autistic and “Twirling Naked in the Street and No One Noticed” is the story of the struggles of an autistic woman. In addition, she goes through life and nobody around her knows it. As soon as I started reading the first few pages of this memoir, I could almost see the author as a little girl with her imaginary friends. I like it that she is using the first person perspective because it provides the story an intimate feel. This narrative gives us an idea of how an autistic mind sees and reacts to life’s challenges. Recounting her life from childhood to motherhood and beyond, Jeannie Davide-Rivera literally bares her soul to her readers. This is perhaps in the hope that her readers may get to understand anyone suffering from Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of high functioning autism. The author’s descriptive style is simple and straightforward and is quite effective in making the story vivid and real. I also like the titles of the book’s twenty three chapters because most of them exhibit a sense of humor that is heartwarming. I highly recommend this book to everyone, not only to understand people with autism, but also because Jeannie Davide-Rivera is a gifted story teller. “

**** READER’S FAVORITES BOOK REVIEW

Twirling Naked in the Streets and No One Noticed –
Rating: 5.0 stars

Reviewed by Robert Rose for Readers’ Favorite

Jeannie Davide-Rivera spent most of her 38 years alone in her mind. Her insensitivity to others’ thoughts, feelings, and actions kept her from making meaningful emotional connections. One grandmother was an exception. She understood one aspect of her hyper-sensitivity. She took her to the yarn store and let her pick out – by smell and touch – the fabrics that she used to make her clothes. Otherwise, as the title suggests, she’d wear only her birthday suit. This was one of the ways her sensory system reacted badly to what was ‘normal’ to others. At school the sounds and sights that others found helpful in learning were, to Jeannie, chaotic and confusing. Being sent out to sit in the hall was a relief to her and she could read and do her schoolwork in peace. She had taught herself to read at age 4. Her hyper-memory made it easy for her to be an “A” student in any type of academic setting. She managed to get through junior high despite her hypo sensitivity to others, but her high school days were spent anywhere except in school. She probably went to class for a total of one year. Yet at 17 she passed the GED, missing only 3 questions and made 1400 on the SAT. Like many who are seen as “different” she followed her own path without regard what others thought. She was attractive so she used men as well as they used her. She pursued her husband and he deserves a medal because beside her autism, they have 3 sons with varying degrees of it. They together read widely and ‘discovered’ her autism.

Jeannie has written an autobiography that is well-organized, well-crafted, filled with honest gut wrenching drama, and reads like a good mystery. It shows the glaring problems of our health delivery system. It demonstrates the problems of inattention (not listening to patients) of health professionals, their tendency to jump to quick conclusions based on inadequate information (misdiagnosis), and to prescribe treatments and drugs that often don’t work or make the patient worse (patients’ and drug companies’ pressure on doctors). Her views are fascinating and prescient, given the current conversations in the media about the personal and legal repercussions of cases of medical malpractice. These are compounded by our education system’s inability or refusal to teach each individual how his complex body and mind works and how these functions affect himself and others. “Twirling Naked in the Streets and No One Noticed” is a book that could be life changing for anyone with any medical condition and for all of us who will face some or be the caregivers of those afflicted. Thanks, Jeannie.

 

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