Jennifer Elder (born 1968,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

) is an American author and assistant editor for the Collins Library of

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. Initially publishing the literary journal'' Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', the company has moved to ...

publishing house.

Early life and education

She graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1990.

Career

The mother of an

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

son, she has written two books for autistic children: ''Different Like Me'' and ''Autistic Planet''. ''Aukids Magazine'' called ''Autistic Planet'' a "delightful children's storybook" and 'Good Autism Practice' found it "engaging and entertaining". A review of ''Different Like Me'' in '' Community Care'' magazine criticised its "sentimental depiction of autism". She is married to author Paul Collins, with whom she has appeared on the

American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and o ...

program ''

On Being ''On Being'' is a podcast and a former public radio program. Hosted by Krista Tippett, it examines what it calls the "animating questions at the center of human life: What does it mean to be human, and how do we want to live?" Radio program and ...

''. ''

Parenting Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child and not exclusively for ...

'' magazine noted about her book ''Different Like Me: My Book of Autism Heroes'', "Autistic kids 8 and older will enjoy discovering that people like Albert Einstein and Lewis Carroll were also autistic! Each person is given a short bio that includes some of the difficulties they faced. It can provide a self-esteem boost for ASD children."

Selected works

*''Different Like Me'',

Jessica Kingsley Publishers Jessica Kingsley Publishers (JKP) is an independent, multinational publishing house headquartered in London, and founded in 1987 by Jessica Kingsley. History Early on JKP published books pertaining to the social sciences and behavioural scien ...

, 2005, *''Autistic Planet'',

, 2007, Review for ''Autistic Planet''

References

External links

Jessica Kingsley Publishers bio
1968 births American children's writers Autism activists Living people San Francisco Art Institute alumni Writers from San Francisco {{US-child-writer-stub