First-person accounts of autism

Perspective-takking is the root of empathy.  Therapists and caregivers often comment on the ability (or, rather, apparent inability) of a person with ASD to share another person's viewpoint and demonstrate empathy.
Yet we generally find it impossible to really put ourselves "the the shoes" of those we work with.  The inner experience of a person with autism seems impossible to imagine.  The hallmark behaviors of hand-flapping, scripting and so on are undoubtedly familiar, yet ultimately baffling.  We would have greater sensitivity, and greater empathy, if we could somehow assume that perspective for a moment.  And such an insight would satisfy the curiosity we often feel when observing or interacting with a person with autism.  "Why," we wonder "does he always say that phrase?  What is she thinking when she moves her hands that way?  What is it like for him when he plays that video clip over and over?"

First person accounts of autism go a long way towards satisfying that curiosity.  Of course, such books can't tell us a single thing about the experience or motivations of the individuals we know, love or work with, and we should be cautious not to presume that one person with autism feels, thinks and experiences the world like another.  Still, firsthand accounts can certainly give us a clue about the inner lives of the authors and provide a basis to imagine something about the lives of others.

Some of the best:

Thinking in Pictures, by Temple Grandin (this is a classic but her other books fit this category as well: Emergence, The Way I See It, the Autistic Brain and others...)

Born on a Blue Day, by Daniel Tammet (an account of Asperger's)

The Reason I Jump, by Naoki Higashida (outstanding writing by a minimally verbal 13 year old)

There's a Boy in Here, by Sean and Judy Barron (a candid account written by an autistic boy and his mother, including their different perspectives on the same problems and events)