Sophia Mendonça
Sophia Silva de Mendonça is a Brazilian author. Considered one of the main voices on autism in women in Brazil, Sophia wrote the young adult chick lit novel Danielle, Asperger , the journalistic book Neurodivergentes and hosts the channel Mundo Autista on YouTube. In 2025, she returned to chick lit with The Influencer and The Critic, a romantic comedy.
She is also active as an author of biographies, having written the book "Ikeda, um Século de Humanismo, which chronicles the trajectory of Japanese Soka Gakkai Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda. In 2024, Mendonça created the series of reports Courtney Love e o Autismo, which tells the life of singer and actress Courtney Love from the autism's point of view.
Her critically acclaimed book Metamorfoses, the result of her research at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, addresses the experience of being autistic and trans and how this affects communication and sociability between individuals and groups. In 2023, she appeared on Max and Discovery reality series Transgender Twins''.
Career
Mendonça was diagnosed with asperger syndrome at the age of 11, which led her to having an interest in the process of socialization and how people communicate with each other. She has been a film critic since 2009. During her years in university studying for a degree in communication, she wrote a blog named Tudo Bem Ser Different and was the host on the University Center of Belo Horizonte weekly radio program Mundo Asperger. She also in her first year wrote her first book over the course of six months titled Outro Olhar – Reflexões de Um Autista.Outro Olhar recounts facts from the author's past and shows how mundane situations become complex due to her condition, in addition to being influenced by Buddhist philosophy.Elemara Duarte, from the Brazilian newspaper Hoje em Dia, noted that the author positions herself as a reporter who obtains information about herself, defining the work as sincere and engaging. In the words of psychiatrist Walter Camargos Jr, an autism specialist, Sophia skillfully and sensitively portrays the difficulties of the syndrome, discussing "sensations, emotions, thoughts, desires, realities, and the demands of the external world."
Mendonça debuted in fiction with the young adult novel Danielle, Asperger. The book explores topics such as the world of fame, youth depression, and autism in women, drawing inspiration from the romantic comedies of Sophie Kinsella and Meg Cabot. It tells the story of an autistic teenager and her encounter with her favorite actress, a character based on actress Lindsay Lohan. In his review of Danielle, Asperger, journalist Paulo Fortunato noted that the work offers a glimpse into the daily life of an autistic teenager, but can also be interpreted as a narrative about dreams, identity and the search for a place in the world.
In 2019, she released the book-report Neurodivergentes. The work argues that autism is not a disease, but rather a "variation of brain connectivity". The book is structured in three chapters: "Intelligence and Neurodiversity", "Autism in the Feminine" and "Means of Communication". Since 2015, alongside her mother, journalist Selma Sueli Silva, she has maintained the YouTube channel Mundo Autista, which later expanded into other media formats, such as articles and podcast episodes. It later became a newsgroup of the same name in partnership with the UAI news portal.
She went on to receive a master's degree in communication, territorialities and vulnerabilities from the Federal University of Minas Gerais. Her works revolve around autism and neurodiversity, affective and loving accessibility, gender issues, virtual ethnography, communication through digital media and life narratives. She completed the degree in March 2022, with her thesis being titled "A interseccionalidade entre autismo e transgeneridade: diálogos afetivos no Twitter". The thesis gave rise to the book Metamorfoses, which was defined as "an important compilation on autism, gender diversity and affections". The professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Juarez Guimarães Dias, wrote that the work provides the thought "of other ways of doing academic research".
She continued to conduct journalism work in similar topic areas, founding alongside her mother first the YouTube channel Mundo Autista and then other social media, before creating the newsgroup of the same name in partnership with the news portal UAI. In 2023, Mendonça had a recurring role in the documentary series Transgender Twins, distributed by HBO. In the same year, she began her doctorate in literature at the Federal University of Pelotas.
Film criticism
Mendonça debuted as a content creator in 2009, publishing film reviews on the website Cineplayers!. According to Nísio Teixeira, a professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, the reviews were characterized by language and resources such as direct irony and wordplay. The researcher recently noted that Sophia Mendonça's texts invited new perspectives in a history of film criticism in Belo Horizonte marked by male figures.In 2025, she and Selma Sueli Silva launched a newsletter on Substack, titled Filmes Para Sempre, a guide to films and series, marking her return to the territory of cultural criticism. Her chick-lit novel The Influencer and the Critic is loosely inspired by her journey to becoming a literary critic.
Reception and Impact
In his doctoral thesis, researcher Igor Ries characterizes Mendonça's work as a sharing of the self with the collective, representing a process of personal transformation and a relief of suffering. Ries argues that the author occupies a protagonist role in social spaces historically underrepresented by both autistic and transgender individuals. According to his analysis, by positioning herself as an active subject in the narratives surrounding autism, Mendonça demonstrates a practice of 'care for oneself and for others'.According to researchers Luana Adriano and Valéria Aydos, Mendonça authored the first book on neurodiversity published in Brazil, Neurodivergentes.
Awards
In 2016, she received the Grande Colar from the Mérito Legislativo government of Belo Horizonte. In 2019, Mendonça received the Boas Práticas award from Erasmus+, the European Union program for the fields of Education, Training, Youth and Sport for the period 2014 to 2020, with the aim of supporting the implementation of the Agenda European policy for social justice, inclusion, growth and employment.In 2023, the Mundo Autista channel, hosted by Sophia Mendonça and Selma Sueli Silva, won the Digital Microinfluencers Award, in the people with disabilities category, during the fifth edition of the award, by popular and technical votes.