My Autistic Fight Song: My Battle into Adulthood and the Workplace

by Rosie Weldon

My Autistic Fight Song is a memoir that follows Rosie Weldon as she tries to achieve her dream of becoming a qualified accountant. With the odds stacked against her and the stakes high, she refuses to give up. Weldon was sure of two things: First, she wanted to be an accountant. Second, she was destined to be alone. But when life threw at her an autism diagnosis and a mystery girl, she was left wondering who would employ her and whether she was capable of falling in love. Weldon shares an honest and raw account of facing life as the underdog. When everyone around her doubts she can, can she prove them wrong?

Genres: Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography

232 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2020

About the author

Rosie Weldon was diagnosed as autistic at twenty-five years old. She is a full-time accountant based in the North West of England. Outside of accounting - and her various academic commitments – Rosie also advocates for autism and other neurodiversities. Rosie has written for the National Autistic Society and Happiful mental health magazine. Rosie strives to help others understand autism by sharing her own life experiences through her blog and various content posts at her website

Reviews

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish I had this book growing up and later on.

I don't know if things would have been better if I was diagnosed earlier or not.. I keep going back and forth on it in my head on and off.
Maybe I would have felt less like an outsider ? *shrugs*

Doing my own research is fun and fascinating... and very validating to know I'm just wired differently than other people.

Very proud to be Auadhd :)

I had/have many of the same experiences Rosie did and was always wondering why I struggled with certain things and everyone else found that stuff so easy. Just kept thinking I had to try harder.. I kept hitting this invisible wall and couldn't get to the other side.

I had initially gone in for memory issues and the person evaluating me asked me if I had any history of Autism in the family. I was thrown off guard and said not that I know of. After my second eval, I asked her why she mentioned Autism and she said I showed traits of it. I shrugged it off mentally thought.. there's no way.

When I got the official diagnosis, I wasn't as surprised as I thought I'd be. Looking back now, my intuition must have signaled to me and I had already made space for it in my head. It felt like something fell into place along with everything else.

I'm grateful to Rosie's book and others like it ❤️ For me and everyone else, who was diagnosed late or fairly early but either way having many many questions.
These books are a balm and a help and I can't explain properly how happy this makes me feel 😊.

This book has a very natural/raw feeling to it.. it draws you in very quickly and you feel like you are listening to Rosie talk in person.

Definitely adding a physical copy to my wishlist ✨️. I want this beauty on my shelves !

I'm glad things are going well for Rosie and wish her all the best in everything.

[Helen Whistberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could buy a thousand copies of this book and go back in time to my own early 20s and hand it out to everyone I met back then to help them understand me better. The author perfectly describes in a very readable and relatable way so many of the struggles that I went through as a young autistic adult at a time when it was not so well understood. She is also able to articulate things I was never brave enough to tell people for fear of judgment. This is a compelling memoir and also a study in perseverance and determination that is inspiring. I was amazed at the number of people the author encounters who are willing to go to extra lengths to help her achieve her goals- hopefully a sign that times are changing and acceptance of neurodiversity will continue to grow. Anyone looking for more insight into what it feels like to try and navigate all the pitfalls of a normal, everyday life when your brain doesn't seem to work the same as other people would do well to add this book to their list of Own Voices reading. A book that obviously resonated with me but has a lot to offer to any reader who wants a bracingly honest and ultimately uplifting read.

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s so hard to review something that elicits such a personal emotional response in me. But I’ll try. This is so honest and real that it melts my heart and my brain. I’ve been learning a ton about myself lately and the combination of things I exactly experience that the author did, and the things that are polar opposites but also super relatable... honestly hard to process. I guess in part it’s because on some level my brain works in a similar way to the author’s which to me isn’t something I encounter often especially in nonfiction. But, if your brain is totally different from mine it’s still totally worth reading too.
Also I’ve also always disliked and been terrified by trying to do accounting stuff so seeing how similar brain chemistry can lead to a love of and hyperfocus on that topic is super interesting.

So yeah. That’s my review. I don’t usually read stuff and feel immediately compelled to thank the author for writing it. This is all new.

[Terry Thede · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great journey.

It was a courageous journey. Being autistic and accomplishing all she did was very encouraging for autistic people and those who support them.

[SalScamander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read!

I’ve read a few of Rosie’s blogs, and could relate to some of them. I’m not autistic though, I just seem to relate to a few experiences of autistic people. I don’t know if it might be because I have anxiety, or due to having congenital rubella syndrome. She often has interesting things to say on her blogs. I enjoy reading them. So when I saw she was giving the kindle book free for a week, I just thought I’d get it and read her book and see what it’s about. It seemed interesting enough. While I relate to many things in her blog posts, I found I couldn’t relate to much in this book. Just the odd few things here and there. Some things in relation to anxiety and stuff I could relate to. I was surprised she didn’t know what page number Snape asked the students to turn to. I thought all Harry Potter fans knew that. Maybe because I knew the answer, & I always feel that the stuff I know is easy stuff. Nothing hard. But them I had synesthesia on my side with the answer to that question. Anyway enough babbling. It was a good book.

[s.elle.books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely insightful

As a fellow neurodiverse person, so many of the struggles and challenges Rosie shared in this book hit home. This book made me emotional for her journey. The struggle for appropriate accommodations in the workplace is very real, especially in North America.

Thank you for sharing your story.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raw, Real, and Well Written

I rarely give a 5/5 rating. This earned it.

This hit hard. This was raw and real and I saw my own personal autism journey reflected in the story.

This needs to be read by everyone.

[Yanette Valles Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rosie is amazing! Her book was honest and showed many struggles that autistics have. I related to so many things.

[Katherine Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book surprised me in the best way, and left me re-examining my own life and goals and what I was willing to do to achieve them.

From the very beginning of the story, you begin to get a feel for a day in the life of an autistic adult. I am not autistic, but I do have anxiety and could both recognize and sympathize with the physical manifestations (panic attacks, squeezing fingers together, sinking feeling about facing crowds). As I found myself in Rosie's shoes, easily identifying with the symptoms of anxiety she described so well, I could then get a picture of the additional struggles she faced as a result of autism. No, I couldn't completely understand since I've never experienced it myself, but I'm not sure I could get any closer to that level of understanding than I did with Rosie's outstanding descriptions.

But did Rosie ever give up? No. She didn't. She faced an uphill battle and managed to trudge against the tide to achieve her dream, battling against her autism and crippling anxiety and refusing to give up even when her physical health was impacted. She could have - understandably - thrown in the towel on practicing accounting entirely, but instead she took a chance on a different direction that would allow her to maintain her health and her dream.

Throughout the tale, Rosie talks without filter or shame about the toll on her mental health and the coping mechanisms she turned to in order to continue. She is open about her contemplation of suicide and how she managed to overcome.

This is the kind of story that will spark meaningful conversation and lead to improved understanding of not just the struggles of autism but of mental health as well. Add it to your book club list, add it to your personal reading list, just be sure to read it.

[Zareen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was entirely captivated by Rosie Weldon. She is a very determined, resolute young woman. Her story is very compelling. I found it difficult to stop reading the memoir.

Her adversities were mostly due to her autistic characteristics. I cannot relate to her interest in financial accountancy issues but they reveal her single minded pursuit of her career as an accountant. She also suffered acutely from self-don’t.

The memoir is very readable & compelling. She shows how sensory overload can have a colossal detrimental sense on her well-being..

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Necessary Memoir; Needs A Lot of Editing

The world needs as many late diagnosed autistic women telling their stories as possible. However, this book was often hard to read because of inconsistent grammar, and hard to follow story telling. Sara Gibbs, Laura James, Devon Price, and Hannah Gadsby are the touchstones for AFAB autistic stories. This book read like a schoolkid's English assignment.

[Helaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!!

This book gives a really good insight into what having autism is like - before and after diagnosis. As someone who has a sister who recently been diagnosed, I had no clue what it was like for her - the sensory overloads, the lack of communication and the difficulties she goes through daily. Now, I know there are things I won’t be able to do to help her, but having read this book it helped me understand roughly on what I can say or do to help her. So thank you Rosie!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in four hours. I couldn't put it down. As an Autistic woman, I have always felt like "a square peg", like Rosie. Reading this had me in tears - rarely do I encounter a piece of writing that I can relate to, that reflects my own experiences as an Autistic woman. Rosie's strength and resilience are inspiring.

[Wendy L. Scott-Hawkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story about one woman's perseverance in overcoming the challenges of autism is a pleasant read. Rosie is a very strong, intelligent and capable person who writes honestly about the challenges she faces in becoming an independent working woman. It's obvious she lets nothing stop her from achieving her goals and writing a book is a high expectation for any of us.

[Jayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to try to understand some of the effects of ASD, then this is the book for you. Rosie explains clearly and honestly, the way her ASD affected her life but also, how a bit of kindness and understanding can help immeasurably.

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this is a day!! What a wonderful and engaging account of life with autism. Couldn’t recommend it enough

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the author's other books very much, but for the life of me, I couldn't get into this book at all. It just fell flat for me.

[Julia Katic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly explained and so very helpful. That business of trying so hard goes beyond the understanding of many.

[Hannah Venezio · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

I loved this book. So interesting to read. I would definitely recommend this book to others if they want to see from an autistic person’s perspective