Manly While Stimming - by Eric Garcia (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Unmasking Autism meets Notes on Being a Man in this one-of-a-kind reimagining of contemporary masculinity in the autism community.

Society's definition of masculinity--celebrating aggression, sexual conquest, and athleticism--is limiting and outdated for any contemporary man. But it's even worse for autistic men and boys, who are either criticized for not being "man enough" or wrongly linked to political extremism and masculinity's most toxic aspects. There is a better, more authentic way to be a man, one not currently modeled for the autism community. Journalist Eric Garcia is determined to change that.

In Manly While Stimming, Garcia offers a new, healthy vision of 21st century manhood, expansive enough for all neurotypes. Sharing his own story alongside those from other autistic sons, brothers, fathers, and experts in the field, he argues that feeling intensely and expressing emotion through stimming does not devalue an autistic person's manhood or existence--especially if our standards for being a good man become more inclusive. Speaking directly to autistic men and those that love them, this hopeful book imagines a world where men of all neurotypes have positive role models, and shows us how we can make that dream a reality.

About the Author

Eric M. Garcia is the senior Washington correspondent at The Independent. He is also a columnist at MS NOW and the author of the book We're Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation. He previously worked at The Washington Post and The Hill as an associate editor and was a correspondent at Roll Call, National Journal, and MarketWatch. He has written for The Week, Salon.com, The New Republic, Medium, and The American Prospect. In 2017, he received the Autistic Self Advocacy Network's Harriet McBryde Johnson Prize for Nonfiction Writing. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he lives in Washington, D.C.