Jennifer Elder (born 1968,

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

) is an American author and assistant editor for the

Collins Library The Collins Library is an imprint of McSweeney's Books that publishes unusual out-of-print books. The imprint is named for its editor, Paul Collins. Publications # ''English as She Is Spoke , commonly known by the name ''English as She Is Spok ...

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American nonprofit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. The executive director is Amanda Uhle. McSweeney's first publication was the literary journal'' Timothy McSw ...

publishing house.

Early life and education

She graduated from the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a Private college, private art school, college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mis ...

in 1990.

Career

As the mother of an

autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

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". However, a review of ''Different Like Me'' in '' Community Care'' magazine criticised its "sentimental depiction of autism". She is married to author Paul Collins, and together they have 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?" This podcast should ...

''. ''

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

'' 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 a multinational publishing house headquartered in London. It was founded as an independent publisher in 1987 by Jessica Kingsley. Since 2017, JKP operates as an imprint of John Murray Press. History Early ...

, 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