Autistic and Black

Our Experiences of Growth, Progress and Empowerment

By: Kala Allen Omeiza

Narrated by: Aishah Nyeta

"It's time we bring forward Black autistic pain points and celebrate the triumphs of ourselves, family members, and organizations that care for these individuals. Through following the real stories of others from around the world, I hope fellow Black and autistic individuals will be empowered to realize that being Black and autistic is enough."

In this powerful insight into the lives of Black autistic people, Kala Allen Omeiza brings together a community of voices from across the world, spanning religions, sexuality and social economic status to provide a deep and rich understanding of what it means to be autistic and Black.

Exploring everything from self-love and appreciation, to the harsh realities of police brutality, anti-Black racism, and barriers to care, as well as amplifying the voices of the inspiring advocates who actively work towards change, protection, and acceptance for themselves and others, this book is an empowering force, reminding you that as a Black autistic person, you are enough.

©2024 Kala Allen Omeiza (P)2024 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

This is exactly what I needed.

I wish these things were known when I was a child. I’m 58. i was always considered gifted and attended an Ivy League university. Throughout my life, I’ve been diagnosed with depression, obsessive compulsive tendencies, bipolar depression, and ADD inattentive.

I’ve always known that there was more and that as a Black woman I wasn’t being seen for my whole self.

My adult children self diagnosed as autistic as teenagers. I mostly supported their self diagnosis, but this book has helped me take another look at myself.

Great book

The Audio started slow for me. But then started to gain momentum. I can definitely relate to some of the stories.

This book is awesome! Poignant, heart-wrenching and also inspiring

This book tells the story of about 20 black and autistic individuals. The author does an excellent job of blending these stories, grabbing and keeping our attention. I learned so much about the intersectionalities of autism, race, religion and gender. The narrator on this audiobook is phenomenal!

I love that it was a collection of stories that spans so many presentations of Autism in Black & brown people

I wish I had read this when I suspected my own autism. I would have spent more days noticing the ways in which I have leaned into the coping mechanisms of the people in the book. I would have felt like I had community before the Hedonic Flywheel effect that brought on a hospital stay that led to me being unhoused because no support can be deadly even when you have low support needs.

I am grateful to have read this book first after my diagnosis..to share in the pain, promise and potential of navigating my next.

Thank you 💙

A good book but needs some improvement

I wanted to like this book and give it a good rating, but I found the organization of it confusing and the audiobook excruciating (to listen to). Since I couldn’t find the audiobook anywhere else except on Audible, I endured the entire voiceover experience. However, it needs to be edited for sniffles, loud breathing, licking lips, and other mouth sounds that are excruciating to hear over and over (throughout the entire audiobook). This needs to be re-recorded because it triggers misophonia.

I didn’t realize this was more like a memoir from different people’s viewpoints rather than a book discussing the title topic with interviews added for context. Having sections within chapters jump back and forth between different interviews was confusing. It would have been great to hear each person separately in a dedicated chapter sharing their stories instead.

Although I found the stories inspiring, enlightening, and essential for a listener to learn from and/or relate to, other interview details didn’t need to be included to get the message across. I read this as a book of the month for an Autistic BIPOC Book Club, and unfortunately, we all felt the same way about this.