Gunilla Gerland
Born1963
Stockholm, Sweden
NationalitySwedish
Known forwriter on autism and Asperger syndrome
Notable workA Real Person: Life on the Outside
Secrets to Success for Professionals in the Autism Field: An Insider's Guide to Understanding the Autism Spectrum, the Environment and Your Role
Websitewww.pavus.se

Gunilla Gerland (born 1963) is a Swedish author and lecturer on the topic of autism.[1] Her written works include Secrets to Success for Professionals in the Autism Field: An Insider's Guide to Understanding the Autism Spectrum, the Environment and Your Role and her autobiography A Real Person: Life on the Outside.

Biography

Gunilla Gerland was raised in Stockholm, Sweden.[2] Her father was abusive and eventually left her family, and her mother had alcoholism.[1][2] Gerland left home at age 16, moved to Spain, and eventually returned to Stockholm.[1] At age 29, she received a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome.[1]

Her 1996 autobiography, entitled A Real Person: Life on the Outside (original Swedish title: En Riktig Människa), describes growing up with Asperger syndrome in an unsympathetic environment.[2][3][4] After her autobiography was published, Gerland became an advocate and educator about autism.[5] She also participated in research studies, and has been described as "one of the pioneers of autistic participation in research on autism" by Anne Stenning, writing for Neurodiversity Studies: A New Critical Paradigm in 2020.[5]

She continued to write, also lecture[6][7] and debate on issues related to Asperger syndrome and the autism spectrum.[8] She has also worked as a counsellor and educator in the field in Stockholm.[9] Her writings have been cited in work concerning the autism spectrum[10][11][12][13][14] and autism-related problems such as prosopagnosia,[15] in addition to ways in which autism is analysed and discussed.[16]

Reception

In a review of A Real Person for The Times, Colette Forder writes, "Gerland's story is a challenging one to read: a violent, sadistic father, a drunk and increasingly unstable mother, a childhood of confusion and loneliness."[17] In a review for Times Higher Education, Nicholas Tucker writes that the message of the book "bears on all adult relationships with children. When faced by behaviour that seems inexplicable or even perverse, still try to understand always. One of the greatest human follies is to assume that others are either just like oneself or else should be, once they have seen reason. Gerland speaks up for all nonconforming children, in an age of growing educational conformity: what she has to say deserves to be taken seriously."[18]

Her autobiography was one of several analyzed in an article about autism-friendly architecture published in the Journal of Housing and the Built Environment,[19] and it was analyzed in an article published in the journal Metaphilosophy.[20] It was also discussed in an article published in the Teaching Exceptional Children journal as part of a trend of autobiographical works that are useful for the field of special education.[21] Her autobiography was also analyzed in a study of personal narratives published in the Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics journal.[22] Gerland, her autobiography, as well as the study of her autobiography were discussed by Anna Stenning in the "Understanding empathy through a study of autistic life writing" chapter of Neurodiversity Studies: A New Critical Paradigm.[5]

In a review of Finding out about Asperger Syndrome, High Functioning Autism and PDD in Tizard Learning Disability Review, Ruth Levere writes, "the idea of a brief, pocket-sized book to educate young people with Asperger's Syndrome about the condition is a good idea. However, the content should be more comprehensive than this volume and it would be helpful if it could include references to more detailed texts for those who would want to extend their knowledge of the condition."[23]

In a review of Secrets to Success for Professionals in the Autism Field: An Insider's Guide to Understanding the Autism Spectrum, the Environment and Your Role in the International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, Simon Rose writes, "The chatty style makes it feel almost as if you are having a conversation with the author, but may lack the clarity of some more scientific texts - however this is more than compensated through the use of examples and lists." Rose also writes, "Gerlands personal experience with autism also comes across in the book, allowing her to empathise and relate to autism spectrum disorders in a way that others may be unable to."[24] Simon Jones ranked the book as excellent and writes for Nursing Standard, "Who could not be drawn to a book with chapter titles such as 'How it can be a constructive action to smash a window', 'Good aids that no one uses' and 'CRAP' - thoughts on the use of confirmation or rewards, the idea of being affirmative, and why punishments do not work."[9]

Selected works

  • 1996 - A Real Person: Life on the Outside. Tr. Joan Tate. ISBN 9780285636620
  • 1997 - It is good to ask ... A book about Asperger's syndrome and high-functioning autism[25]
  • 1998 - On where warranted - for humanity, "biologism" and autism (ed.)
  • Sainsbury, Clare; Gerland, Gunilla (1999). "An autistic perspective on live company". Journal of Child Psychotherapy. 25: 153–161. doi:10.1080/00754179908260286.
  • 2000 - How to understand and treat aggressive and self-injurious behavior in autism? An overview of treatment models and related factors
  • 2000 - Finding Out About Asperger's Syndrome, High-Functioning Autism and PDD. ISBN 9781853028403
  • 2002 - Autism - problems and opportunities (with Göran Hartman and Solveig Larsson)
  • 2003 - Asperger's syndrome - and then?
  • 2004 - Autism: relationships and sexuality
  • 2010 - Working with Asperger's Syndrome - The craftsmanship and the professional role
  • 2010 - Children who raises concerns: see, understand and help preschoolers with a different development (with Ulrika Aspeflo)
  • 2013 - Secrets to Success for Professionals in the Autism Field: An Insider's Guide to Understanding the Autism Sprectrum, the Environment and Your Role. ISBN 9781849053709

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Robinson, Ann (December 2, 1997). "Health: Plight of the outsider: People who suffer from autism are made to feel isolated in many ways - not least, as Ann Robinson reports, when diagnosis confirms they are 'different'". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 March 2022 – via Gale.
  2. 1 2 3 Barnbaum, Deborah R. (2008). The Ethics of Autism: Among Them, But Not of Them. Indiana University Press. pp. 106–. ISBN 978-0-253-22013-4.
  3. ↑ Suzanne Zeedyk (editor), 2008, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Promoting Social Interaction for Individuals with Communicative Impairments ..., (see page 180), Retrieved August 12, 2014
  4. ↑ Allen Shawn, 2011, Viking Publishers, Twin: A Memoir, (see last page of Chapter 2), Retrieved August 12, 2014
  5. 1 2 3 Anne Stenning (June 2020). "Understanding empathy through a study of autistic life writing". In Rosqvist, HB; Chown, N; Stenning, A (eds.). Neurodiversity Studies: A New Critical Paradigm. London: Routledge. pp. 108–124. doi:10.4324/9780429322297-11. ISBN 9780429322297. PMID 33724753. S2CID 219907712. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  6. ↑ Gerland, Gunilla (1999). "Living with an autistic disability". xoomer.virgilio.it. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  7. ↑ Bogdashina, Ol'ga (2003). Sensory Perceptual Issues in Autism and Asperger syndrome: Different Sensory Experiences, Different Perceptual Worlds. London/New York: Jessica Kingsley. p. 14. ISBN 9780585471112. For our audience her conference on sensory problems really was an eye-opener.
  8. ↑ Svallfors, Stefan (2020). The Inner World of Research: On Academic Labor. Anthem Press. pp. 54–55, 68. ISBN 9781785273025. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  9. 1 2 Jones, Simon (2013). "Secrets to Success for Professionals in the Autism Field - An Insider's Guide to Understanding the Autism Spectrum, the Environment and Your Role". Nursing Standard. 27 (43): 28. doi:10.7748/ns2013.08.27.52.28.s35.
  10. ↑ Rhode, Maria (2004). "What Does It Feel Like? Two First-Person Accounts by Adults with Asperger's Syndrome". In Rhode, Maria; Klauber, Trudy (eds.). The Many Faces of Asperger's Syndrome. Tavistock Clinic series. London/New York: Karnac. pp. 70–85. ISBN 9781849404495.
  11. ↑ Sharp, Sonia (1999). "Preventing and managing specific learning difficulties in the classroom". In Whitmore, Kingsley; Hart, Hilary; Willems, Guy (eds.). A Neurodevelopmental Approach to Specific Learning Disorders. Clinics in developmental medicine. Vol. 145. London: Mac Keith. pp. 259–279. ISBN 9781898683117.
  12. ↑ Davidson, Joyce; Henderson, Victoria L. (March 2010). "'Coming out' on the spectrum: autism, identity and disclosure". Social & Cultural Geography. 11 (2): 155–170. doi:10.1080/14649360903525240. S2CID 143597803 – via SocINDEX with Full Text.
  13. ↑ Wing, Lorna (April 2005). "Reflections on Opening Pandora's Box". Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 35 (2): 197–203. doi:10.1007/s10803-004-1998-2. PMID 15909406. S2CID 181447.
  14. ↑ Bower, Bruce (August 12, 2006). "Outside Looking In". Science News. 170 (7): 106–108. doi:10.2307/4017271. JSTOR 4017271.
  15. ↑ Hagström, Torbjörg (2004). "Att inte känna igen ansikten – ingen bagatell för den drabbade" (PDF). Läkartidningen (in Swedish). 101 (41): 3191. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-08-12.
  16. ↑ Stubblefield, Anna (2013). "Knowing Other Minds: Ethics and Autism". In Anderson, Jami L.; Cushing, Simon (eds.). The Philosophy of Autism. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 158, 159. ISBN 9781442217072.
  17. ↑ Forder, Colette (September 27, 1997). "Also out; Books". The Times – via Gale.
  18. ↑ Tucker, Nicholas (18 May 1998). "Prisoner in an inner world". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  19. ↑ Kinnaer, Marijke; Baumers, Stijn; Heylighen, Ann (June 2016). "Autism-friendly architecture from the outside in and the inside out: an explorative study based on autobiographies of autistic people". Journal of Housing and the Built Environment. 31 (2): 179–195. doi:10.1007/s10901-015-9451-8. JSTOR 43907378. S2CID 141679684. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  20. ↑ Chapman, Robert (July 2019). "Autism as a Form of Life: Wittgenstein and the Psychological Coherence of Autism". Metaphilosophy. 50 (4): 421–440. doi:10.1111/meta.12366. S2CID 181423539 – via Complementary Index.
  21. ↑ Kluth, Paula (April 2004). "Autism, Autobiography, and Adaptations". Teaching Exceptional Children. 36 (4): 42–47. doi:10.1177/004005990403600406. S2CID 143019879.
  22. ↑ Chamak, Brigitte; Bonniau, Beatrice; Jaunay, Emmanuel; Cohen, David (August 2008). "What Can We Learn about Autism from Autistic Persons?". Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. 77 (5): 271–9. doi:10.1159/000140086. PMID 18560252. S2CID 18277722.
  23. ↑ Levere, Ruth (July 2004). "Finding out about Asperger Syndrome, High Functioning Autism and PDD". Tizard Learning Disability Review. 9 (3): 44. doi:10.1108/13595474200400027.
  24. ↑ Rose, Simon (2014). "The Asperkid's launch pad: home design to empower everyday superheroes/Intellectual disability: ethics, dehumanization, and a new moral community/The early identification of autism spectrum disorders: a visual guide/Secrets to success for professionals in the autism field: an insider's guide to understanding the autism spectrum, the environment and your role". International Journal of Developmental Disabilities. 60 (1): 54–56 – via EBSCOhost.
  25. ↑ Vermeulen, Peter (2000). I Am Special: Introducing Children and Young People to Their Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. p. 12. ISBN 9781853029165. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
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