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| Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism | 
| Manufacturer: Harmony
Category: EBooks
List Price: $9.95
Buy New: $7.96
You Save: $1.99 (20%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 10798
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Dewey Decimal Number: 616.858820092
ASIN: B000FC1AJ8
Publication Date: March 9, 2004
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
“This is a book about autism. Specifically, it is about my autism, which is both like and unlike other people’s autism. But just as much, it is a story about how I emerged from the darkness of it into the beauty of it.”
In this elegant and thought-provoking memoir, Dawn Prince-Hughes traces her personal growth from undiagnosed autism to the moment when, as a young woman, she entered the Seattle Zoo and immediately became fascinated with the gorillas.
Having suffered from a lifelong inability to relate to people in a meaningful way, Dawn was surprised to find herself irresistibly drawn to these great primates. By observing them and, later, working with them, she was finally able to emerge from her solitude and connect to living beings in a way she had never previously experienced.
Songs of the Gorilla Nation is more than a story of autism, it is a paean to all that is important in life. Dawn Prince-Hughes’s evocative story will undoubtedly have a lasting impact, forcing us, like the author herself, to rediscover and assess our own understanding of human emotion.
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 Gorrila my dreams.. April 8, 2007
I just finished reading "Songs of the Gorilla Nation", by Dawn Prince-Huges. I found it very interesting, (especially the parts about the gorillas), but also very disturbing.
Dawn is about my age, so we share having grown up with Asperger's Syndrome in a time when autism, and especially AS, weren't really recognized---especially in women---and it's subsequent late diagnosis. I guess I found it disturbing because of the many parallels in our lives, and the bad memories they brought up for me.
She mentions feeling guilty about being envious of her relative who was just diagnosed with AS, because of all the slack people cut him, and all the help he is getting. I also have a newly diagnosed nephew, and I can totally sympathize with her jealousy. If I had gotten 1/10th the understanding and help that he gets, well...who knows how much pain I might have been spared?
I also liked her point about how hard she works to act "normal", and how frustrating it is for her because people don't believe her when she says she's autistic. They think she's making excuses for being abrupt or uncaring or the million other things "normal" people accuse us of. Sort of a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.
I REALLY sympathized when she spoke of how she has been criticized for her
perseveration, as I have run into that a lot.
I liked the book and I recommend it with some provisos: If you are on the spectrum, it may bring up bad stuff for some of you---especially if you're a woman. It's a little patchy -she skips around a bit and leaves out some background info that I would have found interesting/helpful. The insights into the gorilla mind are absolutely fascinating, and very sad.
A good read if you can handle it---I'm still having fallout.
Overcoming multiple hurdles to lead a fulfilling life March 29, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is the autobiography of a woman who not only overcame the challenges posed by autism but also came to terms with her lesbianism and embraced both things as part of her life.
Growing up different - autistic AND gay - in a small town was dreadful, and she left at 16. Her description of the extra difficulties faced by a homeless autistic was frightening, but she managed to climb out of that hole anyway.
I would have liked to have read more details about her college life and how she managed to earn a Ph.D., largely by correspondence, from a Swiss university.
She now lives in the Pacific Northwest with her life partner and their son, borne by the partner from an anonymous sperm donor who was likely as colorful as they are.
Recommended February 11, 2006
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
This is not just another autistic auto-biography. In talking about her life the author is also talking about her work with and her experiences of Gorillas, and what she has learned from them, creating as a result a thoughtful and intelligent book not just about one person but about what it is to be autistic and what it is to be human.
 Fascinating look at autism AND gorillas January 3, 2006
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I thought the title was a metaphor, but it was actually quite literal. This book provides a fascinating view of the life and coping strategies of a "high-achieving autistic." It also provides insight into the lives and societies of gorillas. This book could be enjoyed for either reason. One of the best patient autobiographies I have read.
Spellbinding December 17, 2005
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
I was spellbound by Songs of the Gorilla Nation, a beautifully written memoir of a young woman who has Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism. Although she has difficulty communicating and interacting in person, she is a remarkably eloquent writer, and is able to describe and provide profound insight into the thought processes and experiences of people who have the syndrome.
She describes her syndrome as a sensory filter malfunction (interestingly enough, many people with Autism and Asperger's have asthma and terrible allergies, which can be seen as other types of 'filter' disorders). For her, to experience the world is to drown in synesthetic sensory overload. Overwhelmed, unable to process the tidal wave of stimuli, she escapes the painful barrage through obsessive compulsive behavior, repetitive actions, and solipsism. As a child she was unable to connect normally with other people and was incapable of picking up on normal social cues. Although not cognitively or verbally delayed, she was socially helpless. Blunt, inadvertantly rude, and always "different,' she was a vulnerable target for vicious schoolmates and even teachers. She suffered greatly as a tormented, confused social outcast.
Completely alienated, she dropped out of school at 16 and was moved to Seattle and became homeless, eating out of garbage cans to survive. She eventually became an exotic dancer, and with her first paycheck visted the Seattle zoo because she had always found solace in animals. There she discovers an almost mystical connection with the gorillas, and for the first time experiences empathy and connection with another primate. Adept at shutting her senses off, she is able to focus her brain like a laser, and with a formidable singlemindedness observed and learned everything she could about them. Through studying their social interactions, and from the relationships she develops with the gorillas, she learns how to interact with humans. She credits the gorillas with "civilizing" her, and forms deep, communicative relationships with some of them. She becomes involved with the zoo and eventually is able to earn her PhD in Interdisciplinary Anthropology, form a relationship with a significant other, have a child, and become an activist for gorillas. Now she works to bridge the worlds between ape and human as well as autistic and normal people.
Although she can "pass" now as a normal person, there are still some things about human society that counfound her, although I can certainly see why.
"It is hard to express the horror I feel when I am out at a parade or carnival (already a sensory nightmare) and I see a clown coming. The garish colors of an exaggerated smile, the electric daggers that are rainbow wigs, the oversized hands and feet: all of these make me want to run at top speed for the nearest exit. If I can't get away, I sometimes feel like I want to attack the clown."
Amen, sister. Amen.
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