The secret life of a Black Aspie : a memoir

Anand Prahlad was born on a former plantation in Virginia in 1954. This memoir, vividly internal, powerfully lyric, and brilliantly impressionistic, is his story. For the first four years of his life, Prahlad didn't speak. But his silence didn't stop him from communicating—or communing—with the strange, numinous world he found around him. Ordinary household objects came to life; the spirits of long-dead slave children were his best friends. In his magical interior world, sensory experiences blurred, time disappeared, and memory was fluid. Ever so slowly, he emerged, learning to talk and evolving into an artist and educator. His journey takes readers across the United States during one of its most turbulent moments, and Prahlad experiences it all, from the heights of the Civil Rights Movement to West Coast hippie enclaves to a college town that continues to struggle with racism and its border state legacy. Rooted in black folklore and cultural ambience, and offering new perspectives on autism and more, The Secret Life of a Black Aspie will inspire and delight readers and deepen our understanding of the marginal spaces of human existence.

Anand Prahlad was born on a former plantation in Virginia in 1954. This memoir, vividly internal, powerfully lyric, and brilliantly impressionistic, is his story.For the first four years of his life, Prahlad didn't speak. But his silence didn't stop him from communicating—or communing—with the strange, numinous world he found around him. Ordinary household objects came to life; the spirits of long-dead slave children were his best friends. In his magical interior world, sensory experiences blurred, time disappeared, and memory was fluid. Ever so slowly, he emerged, learning to talk and evolving into an artist and educator. His journey takes readers across the United States during one of its most turbulent moments, and Prahlad experiences it all, from the heights of the Civil Rights Movement to West Coast hippie enclaves to a college town that continues to struggle with racism and its border state legacy.Rooted in black folklore and cultural ambience, and offering new perspectives on autism and more, The Secret Life of a Black Aspie will inspire and delight readers and deepen our understanding of the marginal spaces of human existence.

Anand Prahlad was born on a former plantation in Virginia in 1954.This memoir, vividly internal, powerfully lyric, and brilliantlyimpressionistic, is his story. For the first four years of hislife, Prahlad didn't speak. But his silence didn't stop him fromcommunicating-or communing-with the strange, numinous world hefound around him. Ordinary household objects came to life; thespirits of long-dead slave children were his best friends. In hismagical interior world, sensory experiences blurred, timedisappeared, and memory was fluid. Ever so slowly, he emerged,learning to talk and evolving into an artist and educator. Hisjourney takes readers across the United States during one of itsmost turbulent moments, and Prahlad experiences it all, from theheights of the Civil Rights Movement to West Coast hippie enclavesto a college town that continues to struggle with racism and itsborder state legacy. Rooted in black folklore and culturalambience, and offering new perspectives on autism and more, TheSecret Life of a Black Aspie will inspire and delight readersand deepen our understanding of the marginal spaces of humanexistence Prahlad Was Born On A Former Plantation In Virginia In 1954. This Memoir ... Is His Story ... Rooted In Black Folklore And Cultural Ambience, And Offering New Perspectives On Autism And More, [his Book Intends To] Inspire And Delight Readers And Deepen Our Understanding Of The Marginal Spaces Of Human Existence--amazon.com. Remembering -- Born With The Spirits -- Growing Up With The Spirits -- The Pillows Are Crying -- The Big Yellow Bus -- Going To The Moon -- Cool -- The White Castle -- The Big Yellow House -- The Purple Time -- I Think I Do -- Gray Concrete -- All The Green And Blue -- Professor In Silver Town -- Making Lunch. Anand Prahlad. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. In 1954 a Black boy is born on a plantation in rural Virginia. He inhabits a liminal inner world where sensory experiences blur together and memory is fluid. For the first four years of his life, he doesn't speak. Then he finds his voice. Slowly entering the outside world, he evolves into an artist and educator whose extraordinary literary and musical gifts emerge through unspoken neurological challenges. Anand Prahlad's distinctly American journey takes readers from school desegregation in the South, to New Age enclaves in the West, to higher education in the Midwest, deepening our understanding of autism, race and gender.-- From back cover