Beyond the Labels: Finding My True Diagnosis as an Autistic Woman: Faith, Misdiagnosis, and the Journey Home to Myself

Beyond the Labels: Finding My True Diagnosis as an Autistic Woman is a raw, faith-filled journey from misdiagnosis to meaning. For decades, Sarah O’Neill was called bipolar, borderline, broken. Thirty-seven medications, countless therapy rooms, and a trail of shame later, she discovered the missing truth: she’s autistic.

Part memoir, part teaching, part devotional, this book braids neuroscience-aware insights with Scripture and lived experience. Sarah writes with fierce honesty about childhood explosions mistaken for defiance, the psychiatric hamster wheel that never fit, the obsessive research that finally connected the dots, and the day a clinician confirmed what God had been whispering all along: different, not defective.

Inside you’ll find:

• The Story: vivid chapters tracing confusion → discovery → diagnosis → advocacy.

• The Teaching: clear explanations of autistic traits in women (masking, meltdowns, burnout) and why they’re so often mislabeled as bipolar or borderline.

• The Faith: Scripture-anchored reflections that reframe wiring as divine design, not a mistake.

• Reflection Prompts: gentle, practical questions to help you process your own journey and advocate with clarity.

Who it’s for:
Women who wonder if they were missed or mislabeled. Loved ones trying to understand. Church leaders, counselors, and peer supporters seeking trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming perspectives. Anyone who needs to hear that God’s love speaks a truer name than any file or chart.

If you’ve ever felt “too much” or “not enough,” this book will meet you where you are and walk you home—to identity, purpose, and peace.