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Drama Queen One Autistic Woman and a Life of Unhelpful Labels
Drama Queen One Autistic Woman and a Life of Unhelpful Labels
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'It has taken me several years of exploration, but I am at a place now where I see autism as neither an affliction nor a superpower. It's just the blueprint for who I am. There is no cure, but that's absolutely fine by me. To cure me of my autism would be to cure me of myself.'
During the first thirty years of her life, comedy script writer Sara Gibbs had been labelled a lot of things - a cry baby, a scaredy cat, a spoiled brat, a weirdo, a show off - but more than anything else, she'd been called a Drama Queen. No one understood her behaviour, her meltdowns or her intense emotions. She felt like everyone else knew a social secret that she hadn't been let in on; as if life was a party she hadn't been invited to. Why was everything so damn hard? Little did Sara know that, at the age of thirty, she would be given one more label that would change her life's trajectory forever. That one day, sitting next to her husband in a clinical psychologist's office, she would learn that she had never been a drama queen, or a weirdo, or a cry baby, but she had always been autistic.
Drama Queen is both a tour inside one autistic brain and a declaration that a diagnosis on the spectrum, with the right support, accommodations and understanding, doesn't have to be a barrier to life full of love, laughter and success. It is the story of one woman trying to fit into a world that has often tried to reject her and, most importantly, it's about a life of labels, and the joy of ripping them off one by one.
Published: 6th January 2022
Industry Reviews
A fascinating book written with true humour and vulnerability. Enlightening about the subject of autism, and ultimately very funny and uplifting. - Isy Suttie
Sara takes you on a tour of her incredibly intelligent and ridiculously funny mind. I cried laughing. - Shappi Khorsandi
A fast and hilarious memoir about love and acceptance. Razor Sharp and so very touching. - Lizzy Dent, author of The Summer Job
Sara Gibbs absolutely nails the disorienting experience of growing up with undiagnosed autism, when it can feel as if the rest of the human race is continually changing the rules behind your back. - Joanne Limberg
For a Drama Queen, Gibbs is sparklingly hilarious. - Desiree Burch, American comedian and TV host.
Sets you thinking not just about our desire to label those we don't understand, but will resonate with anyone who has ever felt misunderstood. - Rosie Holt, actor and comedian
An extraordinary read - intriguing, enlightening and funny. - Jan Ravens, actress
Full of warmth, insight, heartache, and seemingly effortless humour. It grabs you by the lapels and doesn't let go. - Nick Pettigrew, author of Anti-Social: The Secret Diary of an Anti-social Behaviour Officer.
