Dashas Journal- A Cats Reflection on Life, Catness and Autism(pdf).pdf

‘Dasha is a brilliant feline! She is flat-out funny, wise beyond

her cat years and a true champion of autistics everywhere! Read

her journal and let her teach you about autism!’

– Liane Holliday Willey, EdD, author of Pretending to be

Normal: Living with Asperger’s Syndrome

‘A heartwarming book providing insights into how autistic

persons perceive and interact with the world as only a cat can.

As Dasha “meows” about her human members of the family we

learn how autism is a different, rather than a disordered way of

being. This book is a delightful and informative read.’

– Stephen M. Shore, EdD, Executive Director of Autism Spectrum

Disorder Consulting, Board of Directors for the Autism Society of

America and the Asperger’s Association of New England

‘Dasha’s Journal is a much needed work that blends the literary

journey with an engaging scientific study. The book provides

exemplary and cunning analogies to help the reader better

appreciate the inner world of the autistic person. The author’s

thesis exemplifies autism as a different way of thinking with

both strengths and weaknesses. The final result is a funny,

clever, and up to date exposition of our present day knowledge

regarding autism.’

– Manuel F. Casanova, MD, Gottfried and Gisela Kolb Endowed Chair in

Psychiatry Associate Chair for Research University of Louisville, KY

‘ Dasha’s Journal is a charming and original way of explaining

the mystery that is autism. Dasha is a cat who lives in an

“autistic” family. Her observations on the behaviour of both the

autistic and neurotypical members of the family put the

“problems” of autism into perspective; we are often told that

autistic people are “mindblind”, but, as Dasha shows,

neurotypicals are just as blind to the ways of those who are

“differently abled”, whether autistics or cats! The Journal is

quirky and amusing, but beneath the humour lies a serious and

profound examination of autism and the misconceptions that

surround it.’

– Charlotte Moore, author of George and Sam

and Adults on the Autism Spectrum

‘As a person with Asperger’s Syndrome, I cannot help but be

troubled by how much misinformation abounds concerning

autism. However, after reading Dasha’s Journal, I have to give

T.O. Daria the best objective comment that I can for a

non-autistic writer: she gets it absolutely right!’

– Edgar Schneider, author of Discovering My Autism: Apologia

Pro Vita Sua (with apologies to Cardinal Newman)

DASHA’S

JOURNAL