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Donna Williams (born 1963) is a best-selling Australian-born author, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter and sculptor diagnosed with autism after being assessed as a psychotic infant in 1965 at age 2,^[1] tested multiple times for deafness and labeled disturbed throughout childhood, before treatment for gut, immune and sensory perceptual disorders in adulthood.

Contents 1 Books 2 Film 3 Television documentaries 4 Music 5 Art 6 Consulting and public peaking 7 Marriage 8 References 9 External links

Williams' first book was the autobiographical Nobody Nowhere: The Extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic Girl.^[2] It was an international bestseller with fifteen weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List.^[3][4] It was shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Prize for Literacy in 1992.^[5]

Somebody Somewhere (1994) is the sequel to Nobody Nowhere that picks up the story of getting the first book published, and how that changed her life.^[6]

Later autobiographical works include Like Colour To The Blind (1998),^[7] and Everyday Heaven (2004).^[8]

She has also written several books on autism:

• Autism and Sensing: The Unlost Instinct^[9]
• Exposure Anxiety - The Invisible Cage: An Exploration of Self-Protection Responses in the Autism Spectrum^[10]
• Autism - an inside-out Approach: An Innovative Look at the Mechanics of Autism and Its Developmental Cousins^[11]
• The Jumbled Jigsaw: An Insider's Approach to the Treatment of Autistic Spectrum "Fruit Salads"^[12]

and a collection of her poetry and prose:

• Not Just Anything: A Collection of Thoughts on Paper published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers.^[13]

Williams has written several feature length screenplays, the first of which was the screen adaptation of her bestselling autobiography, Nobody Nowhere, and is currently optioned to Hollywood producer, Beverly Nero.^{[citation needed]} In 2007 she received a commendation for a feature film screenplay in the National Literary Awards.^[14]

Williams was several in television documentaries:^[15]

• My Experience With Autism, Emotion and Behavior , 1993, Eye to Eye with Connie Chung, USA (in English).
• Jam Jar , 1995, by Fresh Film in association with BBC Four , aired in the UK and was nominated for the Mental Health Media Award (in English).
• Krankheit als Schicksal (also titled Dann Verstehe Ich Auch Nur Bla, Bla, Bla ), 1995, by Spiegel TV, aired January 1, 1997 in Germany (in German).
• Yokosho Watashi No Sekai E "Jiheisho" Donna Williams , 1995, by NHK TV, Japan (in Japanese).

Williams' first album, Nobody Nowhere was made in 1999 with Paul Farrer,^[16] two tracks from which (Sometimes and Beyond The When) feature in the TBS international TV series Things You Taught Me. Another track from this first album, Enemy Lines, made it into the top 50^{[not in citation given]} jazz tracks in American Idol Underground in 2006.^{[not in citation given][17]}

In 2005, she followed this album with a second titled, Mutation which she made with an Australian music composer, producer and arranger named Akash. Both albums feature music and lyrics by Williams with the second album also featuring spoken word poetry.^[18]

Williams is a painter who is self taught and began painting in adulthood. She is also a sculptor who has completed life-sized sculptures. She is the older sister of the award-winning mural artist and Australian graffiti artist, Duel.^[19]

Donna became a qualified teacher^{[unreliable source?]},^[20] international public speaker^{[not in citation given][21]} and autism consultant^[22] She was invited to join the UK's Medical Research Council's review into the causes of autism in 2002, where she was elected to the lay-person's panel.^[23]

On December 9, 2000, she married Chris Samuel while living in England. In 2002 they moved back to her native Australia.^[24] He helped Donna create the auties.org website, for people on the autistic spectrum seeking to work towards self employment.^[25] Donna writes about him in her book Everyday Heaven.^[26]

• Donna Williams website
• Donna Williams blog
• Donna Williams on imdb