Gay Eastoe lives in Cumbria. She is married to Richard and has four children. Gay was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome at the age of 48 years in 2002 after the onset of panic attacks. In 2005 she was diagnosed with Dyslexia and in 2006 Catatonic Deterioration in association with her autism. Despite struggling at school Gay has a B.Sc., a Ph.D., and a B.A. and is currently studying for two more degrees. Here Gay has used poetry as a tool to express in a short, concise and logical way some of her thoughts on various aspects of autism. Gay feels that it is important that people who are affected by autism write freely about their thoughts, feelings and coping strategies. Gay hopes that the poems will be thought provoking and further the understanding of autistic spectrum conditions.