Local resident Robert Noble has published a book designed to help the millions of people worldwide whose autism remains undiagnosed. Entitled 'I'm autistic get me out of here!', the book draws on his personal experience. But is also intended to offer insight, encouragement and practical guidance to help readers better understand themselves. For those reading it who have diagnosed autism, he hopes that it will demonstrate that life can get better. But he also believes that it will make good reading whether or not you are on the spectrum.

Robert shared a little more about his childhood with us and we have kept this in his own words.... 

I was born in Muswell Hill in 1947 and grew up there with my parents and my brother, who was ten years older than me. From an early age, it was clear that I experienced the world differently. I did not begin speaking until I was four years old, and even then, my communication bore little resemblance to that of other children. Until around the age of seven, my responses could best be described as a curious mixture of an over-enthusiastic bird and Enid Blyton’s Noddy. I nodded vigorously, flapped my arms as if preparing for take-off, and expressed myself physically rather than verbally.

Although these behaviours can seem amusing when viewed through today’s lens, they were often misunderstood at the time. I was growing up with autism in an era when autism was rarely recognised and rarely supported. Children like me were not recognised as neurodivergent or in need of understanding and guidance; instead, we were labelled lazy, naughty, or unintelligent. This lack of insight left deep marks, shaping how I saw myself and how others treated me.

At the age of seven, my life took a profound turn when I became a Christian through my Sunday school teacher, Miss Tucker. She was a retired missionary who had spent many years working in China, and her stories captivated me. She spoke not only about distant places but also about Jesus in a way that made faith feel alive and personal. Crucially, she seemed to understand me in a way few adults had before. She encouraged me and supported my early attempts at fundraising for Methodist missionaries, helping me feel that I had purpose and value. 70 years of me fundraising for overseas charities followed.

As I grew up, I discovered that I am a visual thinker – someone whose thoughts come primarily in pictures rather than words. Looking back, this explains why Miss Tucker’s personal stories, and the Bible stories she shared, stayed with me so vividly. Even today, I can recall them in remarkable detail. My prayer life was shaped by this visual thinking; I imagined Jesus sitting beside my bed at night as my friend and comforter. That personal relationship sustained me during years when I felt painfully aware that I was not like other children.

Sadly, Robert felt a failure until he was 27 years old when he discovered that he had a talent that would turn him from a failed salesman to a furniture buyer in a top company. He is keen to do what he can to ensure that others with autism do not have similar feelings of being a failure. All proceeds will go to the Neema Society,  a charity supporting street kids and those with autism in Kenya. 

 

If you would like to find out more about Robert and his story, as well as supporting a good cause, you can purchase his book at the Haslemere Bookshop.