Illustrator, content creator, and author Ella Willis has written a book to help listeners navigate all parts of being autistic, destigmatise neurodivergence, and offer hopeful advice. In addition to sharing Willis's own experiences and insights, Literally is loaded with the experiences of other autistic creators and followers, resulting in a joyful, accessible, and community-driven book that is wholly unique is audio.
Michael Collina: Though you were diagnosed with autism at 22, you shared that it wasn’t a surprise. What was your initial reaction to your diagnosis?
Ella Willis: I definitely experienced some conflicting emotions. There was a sense of relief and gratitude but also a feeling of annoyance and frustration. I knew I was autistic, and I had to seek the answers myself. It was frustrating to have to wait until I was 22 to finally have official answers and to have my experiences validated. But I also felt elated and overjoyed on the day I received the phone call to confirm I had been diagnosed as autistic. I even celebrated with a cake. I found a great deal of positivity in my diagnosis because it gave me a label for all the things I had previously seen as flaws in myself. It was a weight off my shoulders and a relief to finally be able to say, "I was right."
What do you think is the most common misconception about autism? What would you recommend to people to better educate themselves and address those misconceptions?
A misconception that I think has a really negative impact on the community is that "everyone is a little bit autistic." It’s a complete misunderstanding of what "spectrum" means and ultimately dismisses the reality that autistic people live with every day.
Autism is described as a spectrum to illustrate that every autistic person experiences being autistic uniquely. Autistic people are individual humans with individual experiences and differing support needs. The word spectrum is not used to suggest that all humans are on the spectrum with autistic people simply being at the "higher end," it is a spectrum for autistic people. It’s important to not view this spectrum as a linear line either, but more of a colour wheel-style spectrum with infinite spaces to take up.
I always like to remind people that autistic people are human, as this is often forgotten. You will relate to autistic people, you will see similarities because we are all human, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is a "little bit autistic."
You made it clear that accessibility was an important aspect of writing this audiobook. What did your writing process look like to ensure that Literally was clear and easy to understand for your listeners?
When editing, my editor and I made a conscious effort to go through my writing while thinking, “Are there any idioms in here?” Or “Have I used any non-literal language?” You really do forget just how ingrained figurative language is in your everyday speech, but I wanted to make sure that this book could be read without anyone having to go away and research what the language meant. I wanted to utilise the glossary as an added element of learning, marking certain words in bold and having the definitions in the glossary, allowing readers/listeners to flick to the back, check their knowledge, and continue reading without interruption.
I want this book to feel like a guiding hand. I want this book to feel comforting but not patronising, with readers/listeners having the choice to brush up on their definitions without making the text clunky with clinical language.
We also wanted to make the audiobook special for listeners by creating some audio-exclusive content. To bring my community along with my book, my followers were able to submit their experiences for me to narrate. I really enjoyed doing this, and it was so wonderful to hear the stories of other people. I’m excited for people to listen. I also interviewed some fellow autistic creators, so I really feel like the audiobook is packed with relatable content.
Did you learn anything about yourself while writing or narrating your audiobook? What was your favourite part of that process?
I realised that I have a knack for writing tongue-twister sentences without realising it, and I only discovered them when I was forced to read them out loud! I also think it really helped me to digest my book in a different way. I’d spent months reading and rereading the text, trying to perfect it, but it was only when I read it aloud for the audiobook that I felt I could sit back and feel content with my work, which was a lovely feeling.
I wanted to make a conscious effort to maintain my accent as well, which was fun. My northeast accent means that my vowel sounds are quite different, but I’m proud of where I’m from and I want that to come through in the audiobook.
What are some of the biggest things you would like to share with listeners who want to learn more about autism and neurodiversity?
The most important thing for me is for people to get a deeper insight into the breadth of the community. A lot of autism content focuses on low-support-needs autistic people who, for the most part, are often the most palatable. Their voices must be heard, but not at the expense of those with higher-support needs and those more vulnerable. Platforming a wider range of voices not only provides greater representation, but also allows for a broader understanding of autism, which I hope will generate empathy and a greater ability to care for autistic needs.
I also want to constantly remind people that autistic people are human.
Similarly, what advice would you give to listeners who think they might also be autistic, but don’t know where to start when it comes to getting a diagnosis?
If you are looking at starting the diagnosis process it’s important to remember that every experience within this system is different. Even in England alone, every county has their own system, every private clinic has their own system, and every assessor will have their own way of operating. It can be so hard to know whether what you are experiencing is normal and standard, especially when assessments are rarely explained, but you are not a fraud and you deserve to receive the care you are seeking.
Feeling like a fraud can be such a common feeling for those in the early stages of coming to terms with being autistic. On the days where you see your struggles less, you start to wonder whether you even are autistic, then when your struggles feel more prominent it’s like reality comes crashing down on top of you. Life will always be a little harder for us, but it doesn’t mean we are unworthy.
