The Feeling’s Unmutual: Growing up with Asperger Syndrome (Undiagnosed)

The Feeling’s Unmutual: Growing up with Asperger Syndrome (Undiagnosed)
Will Hadcroft,
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
ISBN 1843102641,
£13.95

STAR RATING 5/5

This book sat on a shelf for weeks before being opened – the title seemed aggressive and I wasn’t keen to get started, writes  Beth Billington.

When I did start reading, I was instantly hooked on Will Hadcroft’s engaging style and vivid descriptions. It is the autobiography
of a man who grew up in 1980s England on a diet of TV science fiction series such as Dr Who, and The Tripods.

A rather limited diet it seemed to those around him, who despaired at Will’s inability to fit in. To Will however, sci-fi provided escape and safety in a nonsensical world. Like the characters, he grew up feeling “alien”, “different” and “out of place”,
but never knowing why.

Each time young Will tried to be “normal” and engage with the world, it went horribly wrong, and he writes that he felt as though he “was the subject of some sick joke and that the whole world was in on it.”

Only as an adult did Hadcroft find his answer, realising that there were other people who experienced life in the same way as he did. He had always known that social skills came easily to others, and this was something he simply could not fathom, and now he knows why.

From childhood confusion, through low mood and despair to becoming an accomplished author, The Feeling’s Unmutual is a glorious read – a book that is hard to put down.

Beth Billington is a clinical psychologist working with adults who have learning difficulties