A Little Less Broken

How an Autism Diagnosis Finally Made Me Whole

By: Marian Schembari

Narrated by: Marian Schembari

This program is read by the author.

One woman’s decades-long journey to a diagnosis of autism, and the barriers that keep too many neurodivergent people from knowing their true selves

Marian Schembari was thirty-four years old when she learned she was autistic. By then, she’d spent decades hiding her tics and shutting down in public, wondering why she couldn’t just act like everyone else. Therapists told her she had Tourette’s syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, sensory processing disorder, social anxiety, and recurrent depression. They prescribed breathing techniques and gratitude journaling. Nothing helped.

It wasn’t until years later that she finally learned the truth: she wasn’t weird or deficient or moody or sensitive or broken. She was autistic.

Today, more people than ever are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Testing improvements have made it easier to identify neurodivergence, especially among women and girls who spent decades dismissed by everyone from parents to doctors, and misled by gender-biased research. A diagnosis can end the cycle of shame and invisibility, but only if it can be found.

In this deeply personal and researched memoir, Schembari’s journey takes her from the mountains of New Zealand to the tech offices of San Francisco, from her first love to her first child, all with unflinching honesty and good humor.

A Little Less Broken breaks down the barriers that leave women in the dark about their own bodies, and reveals what it truly means to embrace our differences.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.

©2024 Marian Schembari (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Astutely observed, incandescently written, and unexpectedly hilarious, A Little Less Broken is a riveting account of the costs of masking your authentic autistic self, as well as a tribute to the life-changing power of finding a diagnosis and a community."—Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity

"A Little Less Broken provides great insights for autistic women. It will help them understand meltdowns, masking, and the stressful intense world of sensory oversensitivity."—Temple Grandin, author of Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism

“I feel weepy with gratitude for this book. Marian writes with such humor, insight, and immediacy that it's an absolute page turner. This book is a gift to humanity—no exaggeration—and should be required reading for all. A Little Less Broken will make the world a better, more compassionate place."—Joanna Goddard, Cup of Jo

What a tremendous autobiography

The author shared raw emotions, truthful stories about her journey to become diagnosed with autism. These stories anyone could relate to— revealing our human needs to feel like we belong, and are worthy. Most poignantly, the author points out the inequity between men and women in terms of societal expectations and the lack of acceptance for women to be divergent. Society creates cookie cutters for women to role play, but not necessarily allows us to “be” in our authentic various forms. The insights into an autistic persons world perspectives is also eye-opening and at times very funny. The author is masterful in using words to convey her experiences. I appreciate this book very much.

Disappointed

Unfortunately this title sound like a teen story, one of those girls that never stop talking. Couldn't pass third chapter.