“This book serves as a guide for women diagnosed with autism later in life, who’ve spent years navigating confusion and isolation without a clear explanation for it. As a psychotherapist, the author blends research, personal reflection, and case vignettes to outline the signs and symptoms of autism. Specifically, it addresses how it may manifest in women, offering tools for self-recognition and coping. She educates her readers on common misconceptions and examines the social politics that contribute to delayed diagnosis, including the infantilization of autistic individuals and the cultural pressure to 'mask.' The result is a comprehensive, accessible, and empathetic resource.” —Kirkus Reviews
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Her Face of Autism is a guide for women who have always felt different, misjudged, or like they were constantly working twice as hard to hold it together. Whether you’re self-identifying, newly diagnosed, or still untangling questions, this book offers clarity, context, and a grounded path forward.
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Written by an Autistic and ADHD psychotherapist this book doesn’t speak about you, it speaks with you. It’s for women who masked their way through school, work, parenting, relationships—without realizing what they were doing was survival. It walks through the doubt, grief, and revelation that often follow late diagnosis or self-recognition. Chapters blend personal narrative, clinical insight, and client stories to explore this experience’s many layers: masking and burnout, misdiagnosis, trauma, identity, psychosexual development, intimacy, and neurodivergent relationships. You’ll also find reflective prompts to help make sense of your story—and rewrite it in your own words.
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This isn’t a clinical checklist. It’s a neurodiversity-affirming, trauma-informed, real-talk resource for women who are finally seeing themselves clearly—often for the first time.
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If you’ve ever thought, Why has this always been so hard? Why did no one see me?—this book is for you. You weren’t missed because you were fine. You were missed because you were masking. You were always Autistic. You’ve always been enough. Now you get to understand why—and what’s next.
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"Her Face of Autism is a humane and encouraging guide for autistic women who want to reframe their personal, social, and sexual identities after diagnosis to be more compassionate with themselves." —Foreword Clarion Reviews
Michelle Labine, PhD, is a late-diagnosed Autistic and ADHD woman whose lived experience deeply informs her work as a psychotherapist and clinical sexologist. She specializes in trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming care for neurodivergent individuals, couples, and families. Her clinical approach blends humanistic psychology, narrative therapy, and sex therapy, with deep respect for the complexity of identity, mind-body integration, and relational healing. Her personal discovery of autism in midlife, sparked by recognizing herself in her own child’s diagnosis, ignited a transformative journey of unmasking, self-reclamation, and research.
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Michelle is the founder of a multi-location psychotherapy group practice and nonprofit mental health organization in Nova Scotia, where she has developed a values-driven, mentorship-based model of care. Her work supports early-career clinicians, expands access to inclusive mental health services, and centres neurodivergent and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.
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Michelle is the writer behind Papercranes and Starlight, a blog for late-diagnosed Autistic women, where she shares reflective essays centred on healing, identity, and belonging.
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She lives and works in Nova Scotia, continuing to build spaces on the page, in the therapy room, and in the community where people feel seen, supported, and free to be fully themselves.
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