Were Not Broken, Eric Garcia
Were Not Broken, Eric Garcia
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We're Not Broken
Changing the Autism Conversation

Author: Eric Garcia

Narrator: Eric Garcia

Unabridged: 7 hr 53 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 08/03/2021


Synopsis

“This book is a message from autistic people to their parents, friends, teachers, coworkers and doctors showing what life is like on the spectrum. It’s also my love letter to autistic people. For too long, we have been forced to navigate a world where all the road signs are written in another language.”

With a reporter’s eye and an insider’s perspective, Eric Garcia shows what it’s like to be autistic across America.

Garcia began writing about autism because he was frustrated by the media’s coverage of it; the myths that the disorder is caused by vaccines, the narrow portrayals of autistic people as white men working in Silicon Valley. His own life as an autistic person didn’t look anything like that. He is Latino, a graduate of the University of North Carolina, and works as a journalist covering politics in Washington D.C. Garcia realized he needed to put into writing what so many autistic people have been saying for years; autism is a part of their identity, they don’t need to be fixed. 

In We’re Not Broken, Garcia uses his own life as a springboard to discuss the social and policy gaps that exist in supporting those on the spectrum. From education to healthcare, he explores how autistic people wrestle with systems that were not built with them in mind. At the same time, he shares the experiences of all types of autistic people, from those with higher support needs, to autistic people of color, to those in the LGBTQ community. In doing so, Garcia gives his community a platform to articulate their own needs, rather than having others speak for them, which has been the standard for far too long. 

Read by the Author.

About Eric Garcia

ERIC GARCIA is a journalist based in Washington, DC. He is the senior Washington correspondent at The Independent and an MSNBC columnist. Previously, he was an assistant editor at the Washington Post’s Outlook section and an associate editor at The Hill, as well as a correspondent for National Journal, MarketWatch, and Roll Call. He has also written for the Daily Beast, the New Republic, and Salon.com. Garcia is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lark

This book is a good place to start educating yourself about the current state of autism politics. I found it fair, kind, thoughtful, well-meaning, and gracious. In its vocabulary choices, and in its ways of presenting autistic life today, it is a model for current best mainstream journalistic practi......more

Goodreads review by Katy

This review is based on the ARC. Note that I am part of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. That being said, I hope everyone I know will read this book when it comes out in August. As an autistic person, this is the most all-inclusive guide to the autistic experience written by an autistic person that I have......more

Goodreads review by Lucy

As a person on the spectrum, I had high hopes for this book, but I was instantly turned off by the author's anti-science bias. It seems that some people with autism insist on believing it has no cause and that spending research money looking for one is a waste. Hence, "We're not broken". Some folks......more

Goodreads review by Kari

This book did exactly what it was meant to do- change the conversation on Autism. Even as a young special education teacher equipped with an ASD endorsement on my teaching certificate, I learned so much. I learned the history of autism diagnoses, the gender gap, current challenges, etc. You name it-......more