Marian Schembari at Harvard Book Store

Harvard Book Store welcomes Marian Schembari—essayist with works featured in the New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and Good Housekeeping—for a discussion of her new book A Little Less Broken: How an Autism Diagnosis Finally Made Me Whole. She will be joined in conversation by Shalene Gupta—local journalist and author of The Cycle: Confronting the Pain of Periods and PMDD. 

About A Little Less Broken

Marian Schembari was thirty-four years old when she learned she was autistic. By then, she’d spent decades hiding her tics and shutting down in public, wondering why she couldn’t just act like everyone else. Therapists told her she had Tourette’s syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, sensory processing disorder, social anxiety, and recurrent depression. They prescribed breathing techniques and gratitude journaling. Nothing helped.

It wasn’t until years later that she finally learned the truth: she wasn’t weird or deficient or moody or sensitive or broken. She was autistic.

Today, more people than ever are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Testing improvements have made it easier to identify neurodivergence, especially among women and girls who spent decades dismissed by everyone from parents to doctors, and misled by gender-biased research. A diagnosis can end the cycle of shame and invisibility, but only if it can be found.

In this deeply personal and researched memoir, Schembari’s journey takes her from the mountains of New Zealand to the tech offices of San Francisco, from her first love to her first child, all with unflinching honesty and good humor.

A Little Less Broken breaks down the barriers that leave women in the dark about their own bodies, and reveals what it truly means to embrace our differences.

Praise for A Little Less Broken

"Astutely observed, incandescently written, and unexpectedly hilarious, A Little Less Broken is a riveting account of the costs of masking your authentic autistic self, as well as a tribute to the life-changing power of finding a diagnosis and a community." —Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity

“I feel weepy with gratitude for this book. Marian writes with such humor, insight, and immediacy that it's an absolute page turner. This book is a gift to humanity — no exaggeration — and should be required reading for all. A Little Less Broken will make the world a better, more compassionate place." —Joanna Goddard, Cup of Jo

"Marian Schembari writes with such extraordinary warmth and vulnerability it's as if she's in the room with you. Her sometimes heartbreaking, often hilarious story reveals important lessons about difference, compassion and survival. A magnificent read." —Sarah Hendrickx, author of Women and Girls on the Autism Spectrum

Masking Policy

Masks are encouraged but not required for this event.