Rainbow Girl

A Memoir of Autism and Anorexia

De: Livia Sara

Narrado por: Livia Sara

Autism and Anorexia—a “Perfect” Combo

At just 15 years of age, Livia was tossed out of the Dutch eating disorder treatment system with the message: "You're just going to have to accept the fact that you're never going to get better."

Growing up unknowingly autistic, Livia spent the majority of her young life seeking worth and validation in external achievements. She excelled in her honors classes, competitive sports, and eventually, an eating disorder.

Until the control she so desperately sought nearly killed her, Livia made the hardest decision anyone with an eating disorder can make: to trust and surrender to the recovery process.

In this gripping and vulnerable memoir, Livia answers the question: What does it take to recover from an eating disorder as an autistic person?

In this book, you will learn:

- How autistic traits can manifest as eating disorder behaviors

- The harmful nature of FBT for autistic people with eating disorders

- The role of demand avoidance (PDA) in autism and eating disorders

- Insights to making eating disorder treatment neurodiversity-affirming

- How to cope with weight gain as an autistic person in ED recovery

- How to free yourself from exercise addiction in ED recovery

- The key to discovering your true self after an eating disorder

To learn how to free yourself or an autistic loved one from an eating disorder, grab your copy of Rainbow Girl by clicking Buy Now!

©2023 Livia Sara (P)2023 Livia Sara

Neurodivergence and eating disorder overlap

I listen to Livia’s podcast and similarly enjoyed listening to her tell her own story from the beginning. I particularly appreciated her inclusion of a parent’s and sibling’s perspective of their family member during various stages of disorder and recovery.

The way Livia narrates her experience of neurodiverse traits manifesting through eating disorder behaviors helped me see a missing piece blocking my own recovery. I am a late-diagnosed, high-masking autistic person who grew up as a girl in the 90s. I’ve read a number of other memoirs of ED over the years and failed to connect fully with the drive to be thin as the overwhelming motivation. In fact, I started the admissions process for my own treatment while reading this book. Thank you for sharing your story and giving me the opportunity to see myself reflected in it.

Life changing/eye opening

I think Livia is the first and only person to put Eds and Autism together. By so honestly sharing her unique experience she is truly helping those who are like her!! For more…go check her out in all the socials!! 🫶

Incredibly important read!

Wow… this book has been profoundly impactful for me. Livia shares her personal experience with anorexia treatment in a way that illuminates just how ill equipped many eating disorder recovery programs are for neurodivergent people. I truly believe this should be required reading for anyone in eating disorder recovery work, and for anyone who works with neurodivergent people. As a neurodivergent person myself, Livia’s story not only gave me a new way of understanding myself, but also language in which to help other people understand me.

The most important perspective…

Having a child with an eating disorder can be so lonely and terrifying. And, when most treatment modalities tell you, the parent, that your child is too brain starved to have a voice and treatment is one size fits all, and punitive for both parent and child, it is SO valuable to have an inside perspective. Livia Sara’s “Rainbow Girl” does a fantastic job of giving an insider view, reminding us that our children are individuals, with individual needs and treatments.