October 2026 Community Spotlight: Cristal Underwood

Ordinary, Smordinary | Turning a Late Diagnosis Into a Message of Acceptance

A Story That Began With Feeling Different

For Cristal Underwood, understanding her own story took decades.

At age 57, Cristal received an autism diagnosis—an experience that helped bring new understanding to many of the challenges she had faced throughout her life.

Cristal describes herself as someone who “slipped through the cracks.” Looking back, she believes that being a girl and learning to mask from a young age may have contributed to her autism going unrecognized.

Her diagnosis became an opportunity to look back at her experiences with a new perspective. She began intensive therapy to work through the trauma associated with growing up without understanding why certain experiences felt so difficult.

But Cristal didn't stop looking backward.

She began turning her experiences into stories designed to help children who may also feel misunderstood.

From Personal Experience to a Children's Book

In July 2026, Cristal released her first children's book, Ordinary Smordinary.

The book encourages children to look beyond differences and recognize that physical disabilities, emotional processing differences, and other ways of experiencing the world are nothing to fear.

Instead, Cristal's message is one of acceptance, self-esteem, compassion, and individuality.

The title itself captures the spirit of her work.

Ordinary? Smordinary.

Why should being different be something that makes a person feel less valued?

Cristal's stories encourage children to recognize that being different can be a strength—and that every person deserves to be accepted for who they are.

Creating Stories From the Words That Once Hurt

Cristal's upcoming children's book series carries an especially personal meaning.

Future titles include:

• Sensitive Smensitive

• Difficult Smifficult

• Anxious Smanxious

• Nervous Smervous

These titles reflect words and labels Cristal remembers being called while growing up.

Rather than allowing those words to remain symbols of loneliness or misunderstanding, she is transforming them into stories that can help today's children feel less alone.

Her hope is that therapists, teachers, parents, and children can use these books as tools for conversation, comfort, understanding, and connection.

As Cristal explains, knowing that her books can help a child feel understood and valued makes the work worthwhile.

A Lifelong Love of Storytelling

Cristal's connection to books began long before her autism diagnosis.

Growing up in Erie, Pennsylvania, she excelled in writing and received recognition for her poetry and rhyming. She developed a particular love for Dr. Seuss and the predictable patterns found within his stories.

There was another part of books she didn't particularly like: the words “The End.”

Cristal never wanted the stories to be finished.

That childhood feeling eventually became part of her own approach to writing. Her children's books intentionally do not end with “The End,” allowing them to be read repeatedly and, hopefully, become a familiar source of comfort and connection for children.

Bringing Other People's Stories to Life

Cristal's storytelling extends beyond writing.

She is also a full-time audiobook narrator, bringing authors' stories to life through expressive reading, character voices, and a natural ability to move between different personalities and perspectives.

Her narration work has connected her with authors from across the United States and internationally, including authors from the Netherlands and Australia.

Her work as a narrator reflects the same quality found in her children's books: the power of a story to help us understand another person's experience.

Cristal and her husband, Andy, are also longtime writing partners. Together they have written books including Secret of 8 and The Wandering, with their next installment, Freaks to the Left, currently in progress. Their work has explored imperfect characters and the importance of acceptance rather than simply tolerating differences.

Looking Beyond the Label

Cristal's story offers an important reminder that autism does not always look the same from person to person—and that some individuals may reach adulthood before receiving an explanation for experiences they have carried for years.

Her personal journey also highlights the importance of creating spaces where people can talk openly about differences without shame.

Through Ordinary Smordinary and the books that will follow, Cristal is creating opportunities for children to learn that differences do not make someone less worthy of friendship, understanding, belonging, or love.

Her work is ultimately about something bigger than a book.

It is about helping a child look at themselves and think:

“There is nothing wrong with being me.”

A Message Worth Sharing

Cristal Underwood's journey from a late autism diagnosis to children's author and advocate demonstrates how personal experiences can become a source of purpose.

The struggles that once left her feeling misunderstood have helped shape stories intended to make sure today's children feel less alone.

And perhaps that is the most beautiful message behind Ordinary Smordinary:

We don't need a world where everyone is ordinary.We need a world where everyone has a place to be exactly who they are.

Ordinary, Smordinary — There’s Beauty in Being Different. 💙

📖 Learn more about Ordinary Smordinary:Barnes & Noble — Ordinary Smordinary by Cristal Underwood

🎧 Cristal also continues to work as an audiobook narrator, bringing authors' stories to life for listeners around the world. Her narration credits include titles available through major audiobook platforms.