The Book I Wish I Had

I wrote Her Face of Autism for women who have spent years feeling different, misunderstood, or as though they were working twice as hard just to keep up.

Whether you are self-identifying, newly diagnosed, or still making sense of your experiences in midlife or beyond, this book offers clarity, validation, and a grounded path forward.

As both an AuDHD (Autistic + ADHD) woman and a psychotherapist, I wanted to create the book I wish had existed when I was searching for answers. Through a blend of lived experience, professional insight, and compassionate reflection, Her Face of Autism invites you to see yourself with greater understanding, self-compassion, and clarity.

The Women I Wrote this For

This book is for women who spent years adapting their way through life without realizing how much that adaptation was costing them.

Women who learned to work harder, stay quieter, become more organized, more agreeable, more successful, or more accommodating in order to navigate a world that never quite seemed to fit. Women who carried a persistent sense of being different, too much, not enough, or perpetually out of step with those around them. Women who became skilled at meeting expectations while privately struggling with exhaustion, self-doubt, overwhelm, or a feeling that life seemed harder than it appeared to be for everyone else.

For much of my life, I adapted. I learned to push through exhaustion, meet expectations, and make sense of experiences that often felt confusing and demanding. Like many women, I carried questions about myself for years before I understood what was beneath them.

This book reflects that journey. It explores the doubt, grief, validation, and moments of recognition that can accompany a later understanding of autism, ADHD, or AuDHD. Along the way, I share personal reflections, professional insights, and themes that have emerged repeatedly in my work with neurodivergent women.

Together, we explore:

The hidden costs of masking, adaptation, and burnout
Misdiagnosis, misunderstanding, and missed recognition
Trauma, stress, and nervous system responses
Identity, self-understanding, and self-compassion
Psychosexual development, intimacy, and desire
Relationships, connection, and navigating life as a neurodivergent woman

More than anything, I wrote this book to offer the understanding, validation, and language I wish I had access to earlier in my own journey.

Seeing Yourself More Clearly

Within these pages, you’ll discover why so many autistic women go unseen for decades and how years of adapting, masking and meeting expectations can leave you feeling disconnected from yourself.

You’ll explore how perfectionism, people-pleasing, chronic self-doubt, and burnout often develop as survival strategies rather than personal shortcomings. You’ll begin to understand the impact of masking, trauma, and misunderstanding on your identity, relationships and emotional well-being. Most importantly, you’ll be invited to reconnect with the parts of yourself that may have been hidden, questioned, or overlooked for years.

Through stories, reflection prompts, and guided exercises, this book offers an opportunity to make sense of your experiences with greater clarity, self-compassion and understanding, and perhaps, for the first time, see yourself as you truly are.

When Your Story Begins to Make Sense

Inside, you’ll find stories, insights and reflective prompts that invite you to pause, make sense of your experiences, and view yourself with greater clarity and compassion. This is more than a book about autism.

It is an invitation to understand yourself differently and to discover that what once felt confusing, frustrating, or difficult may finally begin to make sense.