A Blessing and a Curse: Autism and me

A Blessing and a Curse: Autism and me

★★★★★

Caiseal Mór

Jessica Kingsley Publishers

ISBN 9781843105732

The subtitle may be Autism and Me but this is different from other autobiographies about life with autism.

Caiseal Mór tells us the narrative of his life and how his unique abilities (and difficulties) led him on amazing adventures. He describes horrific childhood experiences of abuse, neglect and exploitation, from the very people who should have been protecting him (his family and the medical profession), yet his story is not one of self-pity.

Rather, Mór demonstrates astonishing skills in self-reflection and exploration, acknowledging the splintering of his personality). At times this proved a valuable tool in dealing with difficult situations – for example, sending out the brave persona or the one who relishes learning, as the situation dictates.

At other times, however, this led to further difficulties with sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, results.

Autism shines through this story as both as a blessing and a curse in Mór’s life, providing him with an incredible perspective on the world, and also leaving him exposed to the ignorance and misunderstanding of a society that saw him as damaged and disturbed.

I was inspired by Mór’s resilience and the power of his spirit in his determination to find himself.

Beth Billington is a clinical psychologist, and has family members diagnosed on the autism spectrum