Donna Williams (author)
| Donna Williams | |
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Donna Williams at the Heide Museum of
Modern Art in Bulleen, May 2011. |
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| Born | Donna Keene 12 October 1963 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 22 April 2017 (aged 53) |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Period | 1992–2017 |
| Genre |
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| Literary movement | Autism rights |
| Notable works | |
| Spouse |
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| Website | |
| www |
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Donna Leanne Williams, also known by her married name Donna Leanne Samuel (born Donna Keene; 12 October 1963 - 22 April 2017), was an Australian writer, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter and sculptor.
In 1965, aged two, Williams was assessed as "psychotic". During the rest of her childhood, she was tested multiple times for deafness and labelled as "disturbed". In 1991, she was diagnosed as autistic and also underwent treatment for gut, immune system and sensory perceptual disorders. She wrote four autobiographies – Nobody Nowhere: The Extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic Girl (1992), Somebody Somewhere: Breaking Free from the World of Autism (1994), Like Colour to the Blind: Soul Searching and Soul Finding (1998) and Everyday Heaven: Journeys Beyond the Stereotypes of Autism (2004) – and released two solo music albums, Nobody Nowhere and Mutations. During the mid-1990s, she was the subject of several TV documentaries.
Williams wrote textbooks on the autism spectrum and was a qualified teacher, international public speaker and autism consultant. On 9 December 2000, she married her second husband, Chris Samuel. The couple resided in Melbourne from 2002.
Williams died of cancer on 22 April 2017.
Donna Leanne Williams was born Donna Keene in October 1963. She grew up in Melbourne with an older brother, James, and a younger brother, Tom Williams (the street artist Duel; born 1969). According to Williams, her earliest memories included "rubbing her eyes furiously to lose herself in 'bright spots of fluffy color', which she found a soothing refuge against the 'intrusive gabble' of the human world around her". Her father, Ellis John Keene, later known as Jack Williams (1936–1995), was bipolar and aloof, while her mother was an alcoholic who was physically and emotionally abusive. In 1965, at the age of two, Williams was assessed as a psychotic infant; subsequently, throughout her childhood, she was tested multiple times for deafness and labelled as "disturbed". By the age of nine, she had developed two alternate personalities: "Willie", her "rebellious, disruptive, and bad-mannered side" and "Carol", the "kind, polite, socially acceptable child". That year, she was also diagnosed with various dietary conditions including "milk allergies, dairy [and] gluten intolerances[; and] salicylate intolerance" and was placed on a multivitamin and zinc regime. At fifteen, Williams left home and worked in various jobs but struggled to support herself. At times she was homeless, passing from boyfriend to boyfriend while suffering "gross cruelty and domestic prostitution in relationships with men".
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Wikipedia