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A review by jcinf
Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity by Devon Price
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
As much as I wanted to breeze through this, I had to take my time to fully digest everything the author said.Â
So many good, actionable âworksheetsâ/charts in here. I left them blank so I can go back to them and take my time filling them out.Â
The authorâs recognition of multiply marginalized people and not applying blanket advice to unmask was good to see. And just acknowledging that itâs not always safe to unmask is great. Nuance makes me so happy.Â
Also with nuance: the awareness of getting a professional diagnosis and how it can be helpful or harmful, I love.Â
And the recognition of the value of self-diagnosing â or as the author says âself-realizingâ made me feel seen.Â
Also with nuance: the awareness of getting a professional diagnosis and how it can be helpful or harmful, I love.Â
And the recognition of the value of self-diagnosing â or as the author says âself-realizingâ made me feel seen.Â
One pet peeve: he called an individual Autistic person âneurodiverseâ â instead of âneurodivergent.â One person cannot be neurodiverse.Â
Neurodiverse is a term that describes the diversity of neurotypes. Aka: a group of people.Â
Neurodivergent is a term that describes an individual who diverges from dominant societal norms.Â
All trigger warnings are mentioned but do not go into descriptive detail. Theyâre merely mentioned to create a well-rounded discussion on the intersecting âissuesâ surrounding Autism.Â
_______________________
Extended review:
Favorite quotes below. Theyâre long, but I like to write them down.Â
âI absorbed the idea, common to many âgiftedâ children, that a personâs intellectual potential belongs to society, not to themselves, and that they owe the world greatness to justify their oddness.â
âNeurotypical brains engage in sensory adaptation and habituation; the longer they are in the presence of a sound, smell, texture, or visual cue, the more their brain learns to ignore it, and allow it to fade into the background. Their neurons become less likely to be activated by a cue the longer they are around it. The exact opposite is true for Autistic people: the longer we are around a stimulus, the more it bothers us.â
âYou cannot craft a comfortable or worthwhile life if you donât know who you really are, or if your self-image is shaped entirely by rules imposed upon you by other people. Thankfully, it is possible to step away from defining yourself by the approval of other people, and by your adherence to societyâs rules.âÂ
ââItâs neurotypical who categorized autism as a social disorder.â Autistic people donât lack communication skills, or a drive to connect. We arenât doomed to forever feel lonely and broken. We can step out of the soul-crushing cycle of reaching for neurotypical acceptance and being reject despite our best efforts. Instead, we can support and uplift one another, and create our own neurodiverse world where everyone â including neurotypicals â is welcome.â
âWe all deserve to take a step back and ask whether our lives line up with our values, whether the work we do and the face we show to others reflects our genuine self, and if not, what we might want to change.
When we accept individuals as they are, instead of warring with their unique needs and challenges, life can move at a more relaxed, accepting pace. A world that allows all Autistics to safely unmask is a world where anyone with strange interests, passionate emotions, environmental sensitivities, social quirks, or other differences is still seen as worthy and whole.â
âThe opposite of alienation is integration. The psychological sense of connection and wholeness people whose identities are integrated can see a through line, connecting the many selves they have been across various times and places.â
âStepping back and taking a look at my key memories and core values, I can see that Iâm a dynamic powerful clearheaded person⌠Iâm so different from the inept, powerless, clueless, needy, figure that I have always worried people might see me as Iâm also nothing like the frigid passive intellectual, Iâve often masked myself as.â
All trigger warnings are mentioned but do not go into descriptive detail. Theyâre merely mentioned to create a well-rounded discussion on the intersecting âissuesâ surrounding Autism.Â
_______________________
Extended review:
Favorite quotes below. Theyâre long, but I like to write them down.Â
âI absorbed the idea, common to many âgiftedâ children, that a personâs intellectual potential belongs to society, not to themselves, and that they owe the world greatness to justify their oddness.â
âNeurotypical brains engage in sensory adaptation and habituation; the longer they are in the presence of a sound, smell, texture, or visual cue, the more their brain learns to ignore it, and allow it to fade into the background. Their neurons become less likely to be activated by a cue the longer they are around it. The exact opposite is true for Autistic people: the longer we are around a stimulus, the more it bothers us.â
âYou cannot craft a comfortable or worthwhile life if you donât know who you really are, or if your self-image is shaped entirely by rules imposed upon you by other people. Thankfully, it is possible to step away from defining yourself by the approval of other people, and by your adherence to societyâs rules.âÂ
ââItâs neurotypical who categorized autism as a social disorder.â Autistic people donât lack communication skills, or a drive to connect. We arenât doomed to forever feel lonely and broken. We can step out of the soul-crushing cycle of reaching for neurotypical acceptance and being reject despite our best efforts. Instead, we can support and uplift one another, and create our own neurodiverse world where everyone â including neurotypicals â is welcome.â
âWe all deserve to take a step back and ask whether our lives line up with our values, whether the work we do and the face we show to others reflects our genuine self, and if not, what we might want to change.
When we accept individuals as they are, instead of warring with their unique needs and challenges, life can move at a more relaxed, accepting pace. A world that allows all Autistics to safely unmask is a world where anyone with strange interests, passionate emotions, environmental sensitivities, social quirks, or other differences is still seen as worthy and whole.â
âThe opposite of alienation is integration. The psychological sense of connection and wholeness people whose identities are integrated can see a through line, connecting the many selves they have been across various times and places.â
âStepping back and taking a look at my key memories and core values, I can see that Iâm a dynamic powerful clearheaded person⌠Iâm so different from the inept, powerless, clueless, needy, figure that I have always worried people might see me as Iâm also nothing like the frigid passive intellectual, Iâve often masked myself as.â
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexism, Suicide, Transphobia, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Dysphoria, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment