Donna Williams was born in Australia in 1963. She was assessed at age two as psychotic, labelled disturbed and tested for deafness throughout childhood before being diagnosed as autistic in 1990. She was an internationally best-selling author with nine published books, an artist, singer-songwriter and screenwriter. One of the most well-known people with autism in the world, Donna was a renowned international public speaker, a qualified teacher and worked as an autism consultant.

Introduction: The Invisible Cage. Section 1 - The Mechanics: Faces of Exposure Anxiety. Exposure Anxiety and consciousness. Exposure Anxiety and intelligence. Exposure Anxiety and will. Exposure Anxiety and sensory flooding. Exposure Anxiety, overload, and information processing. Section 2 - Relationship to Self: Exposure Anxiety and body. Exposure Anxiety and emotional expression. Exposure Anxiety and sense of self. Exposure Anxiety and detachment. Exposure Anxiety and empathy. Exposure Anxiety and insight. Exposure Anxiety and personality. Exposure Anxiety and identity. Section 3 - Relationship to Others: Exposure Anxiety and the world. Exposure Anxiety and respect. Exposure Anxiety and trust. Exposure Anxiety and love. Section 4 - the Development of a Social Face: Being 'social': and the nature of 'simply being'. Exposure Anxiety and behaviour. Exposure Anxiety and language. Exposure Anxiety and friendship. Section 5 - Environment: Exposure Anxiety at home. Exposure Anxiety at school. Exposure Anxiety in the playground. Exposure Anxiety and work. Exposure Anxiety and independent living. Exposure Anxiety and adult relationships. Section 6. Ways forward. References. Index.