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About the author
Laura Donovan is a writer and essayist based in Portland, Oregon, and the neurodiverse mother of two autistic boys. Before becoming a full-time parent, she spent nearly a decade in media, helping to grow outlets such as HelloGiggles, Mic, and ATTN:. She later worked on Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen and co-wrote the series Open Secrets with Ashley Graham.
Her recent essays have appeared in SheKnows, Romper, and Business Insider. Laura published her first article at age twelve - a four-page feature in Discovery Girls about childhood bullying - and has been writing ever since she fell in love with Harriet the Spy in elementary school. Her greatest joys are her children, her husband, and the friends who fill her life.
Momtistic
Laura Donovan
Autism, Motherhood, and Discovering Myself in Both
Motherhood unmasked her autism - and showed her that difference was its own kind of belonging.
At thirty-five, writer and media veteran Laura Donovan thought she had motherhood figured out—until her two sons were diagnosed with autism and a clinician suggested that she might be autistic too. In this candid and darkly funny memoir, Donovan chronicles her journey from overwhelmed parent to self-aware advocate, weaving pop culture, humor, and heartbreak into a narrative that redefines what it means to be "different."
From reenacting Elf with her five-year-old to decoding preschool politics in pandemic-era Portland, she learns that the quirks she once tried to outgrow were never flaws—they were family traits. Momtistic is a love letter to neurodiverse families everywhere and a fresh addition to the conversation about women whose neurodivergence had gone unrecognized for decades - finding a language for who you've always been.
