Books
I’m autistic and I wrote a book about it, called But you don’t look autistic at all. It originally came out in Dutch in April of 2019. The English version was crowdfunded by me and came out in the summer of 2020. In the beginning of 2022, the German version was released, and the Italian version followed in 2024.
The book was also adapted to a kids version, this book only exists in Dutch (for now). It’s title translates to I’m autastic! I moved to Japan in 2022, and about that I wrote This autistic girl went to Japan, which was released in English in 2024.
I’m available for speaking events in English. You can contact me here.
But you don't look autistic at all
Autism – that’s being able to count matches really fast and knowing that 7 August 1984 was a Tuesday, right? Well, no. In this book, Bianca Toeps explains in great detail what life is like when you’re autistic.
Maar je ziet er helemaal niet autistisch uit, the original Dutch version of the book, came out on World Autism Day 2019. In 2020, the English version But you don’t look autistic at all was released. In 2022, the German translation Aber du siehst gar nicht autistisch aus was published and in 2024 the Italian version, Ma tu non sembri autistica, followed.
You can buy the books in my shop. I often have signed books available, but you can also buy them from most retailers.
I'm autastic!
Things can be quite tough when you’re autistic. But you probably knew that already. Did you know you could also be simply fantastic? Or even better, autastic!
This book is for autistic children from around 8 years old and the people in their lives. I’ve written it together with children’s author Esther Walraven. The beautiful illustrations are by Roozeboos. More info on the book can be found on this website (in Dutch).
This autistic girl went to Japan – and you won't believe what happened next
This Autistic Girl Went to Japan is the inspiring story of a young woman who moved halfway around the world in pursuit of happiness. With humor and remarkable candor, Bianca describes the challenges of applying for a visa during a time of terrifying uncertainty, slogging through endless red tape, and the loneliness that comes with being a stranger in a strange land. Oh, and how she wound up evicting a bat from her new apartment, attending a Pokémon GO event with a bunch of middle-aged women, and discovering the best thrift store in all of Tokyo. Along the way, she explains why she feels so at home in Japan, where things are often a bit easier for autistic folks. Well, except for revenue stamps. And opening a bank account. And faxes.
Deze autist ging naar Japan (Dutch version) was released on September 26, 2023 by Blossom Books. This Autistic Girl Went to Japan was released in English in February 2024.
You can buy the books in my shop. I often have signed books available, but you can also buy them from most retailers.
Featured blogs
Books and plans
“Hey Toeps, how’s it going with your books?” In this blog, I’ll tell you what I’ve been working on lately and give you a little peek behind the scenes of life as a falling-star author who’s never quite satisfied (the negative spin), or who’s always striving for more and better (the positive one). I’d love to hear your thoughts too, so feel free to leave a comment!
Buongiorno and konnichiwa
It’s-a me, Toeps, business manager. This blog is a selection of the things I have done in recent months. Because a lot has happened, and a lot is still going to happen! What exactly, you ask? Well…
Nine struggles you’ll probably recognize when you’re autistic
This article was initially written for Flow Magazine. They asked me: What do you struggle with when you have autism?
Which jobs are suitable for autistic people?
In the silly piece in Trouw to which I responded with some other autistic writers, two critical “giftedness coaches” wrote that we couldn’t have autism at all, because, ‘Writers who say they have autism but write books and are in relationships are not examples of people with autism to us.’ Why their entire article made no sense we explained clearly enough in our reply, but the fact that they mentioned the very profession of being a writer made it extra funny to me. Did these two think that someone who sits like a hermit all day in their attic, in a cabin in the woods or, in my case, at the foot of Mt. Fuji, crafting sentences, cannot be autistic? How…?
I went to a meeting for autistic girls in Japan
Some time ago, I was invited by Kohei Kato, an autism researcher at Tokyo Gakugei University who also works as an editorial manager at Japanese publisher Kaneko Shobo. He immediately told me not to expect too much, but he wanted to get acquainted. He gave me two books from his publishing company about autism in girls and women, in Japanese. I haven’t read the books yet (my Japanese isn’t that good, unfortunately), but the titles were promising – these books were about camouflage, or masking.
Seven questions you can ask when an autistic person is stuck in their head
We autistic people are often good at stressing ourselves out. When we lose track, the same thoughts keep popping into our heads over and over again. Stress builds up and we can’t manage to calm ourselves down. When we ask for help, others say, “Don’t worry!”, or ” You’ll be fine!” Well intended, but perhaps the most unhelpful thing someone can say at times like that. “What do you mean, it will be fine?! How can you possibly know?!”, my head screams. Below are some questions that might actually help when an autistic person is stuck in their thoughts.
The autistic person who is doing too well
“I just saw you on Dutch tv station Max, and I think it’s really bizarre that you have houses in the Netherlands and Japan (*), and a job. I think you take advantage of autism for your own gain, yuck!” An email with pretty much this content I received last week, when I was on the train back home from my appearance at Tijd voor Max, in which I talked about my new book. In less than half an hour, this triggered viewer had taken the effort to Google me, check out my site, draw his conclusions and compose an email – although, judging by the language and typing errors, it was a pretty rushed message. Just five minutes of furiously pounding on a keyboard and boom, he had told that faker on tv the truth for once!