Author Nicky Collins recently released her new book ‘Through Autistic Eyes’.
Nicky found out she was autistic in her thirties and has since dedicated her career to working with and coaching autistic people, particularly newly-diagnosed female business owners who need help harnessing their strengths. So we asked Nicky to write a blog to tell us more about her journey and her new book…
Since 2020 I have been interviewing and writing my book Through Autistic Eyes. Each of the 10 chapters is a later diagnosed autistic woman’s experience and her journey through life.
I didn’t know that I was autistic until I was 34 years old. When my neurology came to my awareness my life suddenly started to make sense. My quirks, my challenges, struggles and strengths became so much easier to navigate once I knew about autism.
Fortunately for me, I’ve had a massive interest in personal development, so I took the tools that I’d learnt over the years and made them neurodivergent-friendly.
When I was researching autism it became clear that I wasn’t the only female who’d been missed for a diagnosis, there were generations of us and the media called us the lost girls. I developed my coaching business and I started to work with autistic clients. I also started giving talks about autism and how it can present differently.
These talks were always popular, and after one online talk I went for a walk to ground myself. Nature is my happy place, it helps to quiet my mind and it helps me to reconnect with my body. On my way back I heard a little voice in my head telling me that my success is in stories. This piqued my interest and I thought about what this could mean and how I could use this information in my work and to help others.
Two years later, Through Autistic Eyes was completed. This book is a collection of stories about other later-diagnosed autistic women, it shares their highs and their lows, their triumphs and ‘aha’ moments, and it shows that autistic people can be hugely successful in the things they put their minds to.
Within the pages of this book, there are successful businesswomen, artists, authors, musicians and even an MBE recipient. Autism isn’t a deficit, it’s a different brain type, a different mind, and when it’s tapped into and understood the potential to achieve is limitless and this book shows that.
I didn’t realise just how powerful a resource this book would become before its publication. I had readers going for their autism assessment because they resonated with the stories so much. I’ve had people order this book to help show their non-autistic family members and friends what autism is and how it impacts the day-to-day. It’s filled with practical advice and tips that help you, no matter where you are in your journey.
You can find out more about the work Nicky does and order her book, via her website www.theautismcoach.co.uk.
