## Strong Female Character 🔹 *author* Fern Brady 🔸 *related* > [!abstract]+ Synopsis > > INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Witty, dry, and gimlet-eyed, this is a necessary corrective in a world where Autistic women are all either written off as quiet and docile, or erased entirely.” —Devon Price, Ph.D., author of Unmasking Autism > > Scottish comedian Fern Brady was told she couldn't be autistic because she'd had loads of boyfriends and is good at eye contact. In this frank and surreal memoir, she delivers a sharp and often hilarious portrait of neurodivergence and living unmasked. > > After reading about autism in her teens, Fern Brady knew instinctively that she had it—autism explained her sensory issues, her meltdowns, her inability to pick up on social cues—and she told her doctor as much. But it took until she was thirty-four for her to get diagnosed. > > Strong Female Character is about the years in between, and the unique combination of sexism and ableism that so often prevents autistic women from getting diagnosed until adulthood. Coming from a working-class Scottish Catholic family, Fern wasn’t exactly poised to receive an open-minded acceptance of her neurodivergence. With the piercing clarity and wit that has put her at the top of the British comedy scene, she now reflects on the ways her undiagnosed autism influenced her youth, from the tree that functioned as her childhood best friend to the psychiatric facility where she ended up when neither her parents nor school knew what to do with her. > > In a memoir as hilarious as it is heartbreaking, Fern leaves no stone unturned while detailing her futile attempts at employment, her increasingly destructive coping mechanisms, and the meltdowns that left her mind (and apartment) in ruins. Her chaotic, nonlinear journey—from stripping to getting arrested to finding a lifeline in comedy to her breakout appearance on the Taskmaster TV show as her full, unmasked self—is both a remarkable coming-of-age tale and a dark but poignant tribute to life at the intersection of womanhood and neurodiversity. > > Strong Female Character is a story of how being female can get in the way of being autistic and how being autistic gets in the way of being the 'right kind' of woman. > > **[Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/107525918-strong-female-character)**  ### Notes > [!success]+ My Review > *Insightful look into an autistic life I started reading this after watching a standup of Fern Brady that I really liked. I suppose I thought this would be a bit funnier. It definitely has some clever moments, but mostly it's an engaging read because of how articulate Fern is at at explaining her life as autistic, even long before she was diagnosed or knew what was going on. She explains that growing up she constantly caused issues she had very little control over, unable to understand other people's behavior but learning to mask by copying others or memorizing conversations. Having been close to several friends and partners who are autistic, it's eye-opening to consider reasons for behavior that often has frustrated me and that I didn't know how to respond to. I think a major point of the book for her is to help normalize neurodivergent life so that there can begin to be more acceptance.I did learn a lot from her story, finding it very engaging and think she has a really unique voice. I'm glad she has found the courage to write such a personal story, it's so important to make space for people to be their authentic selves without feeling no one will understand.* > ![[References/Readwise/Books/Strong Female Character#Highlights|Strong Female Character]] ### References [^1]: Fern Brady (Year). *Strong Female Character* [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/107525918-strong-female-character)