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4.45 AVERAGE
4.45 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Thoughtful, radical, and vulnerably imperfect. This book feels like a launch pad for self acceptance, for me as a newly diagnosed autistic adult, I didn’t know I needed. Devon offers a nuanced reflection of the roles masking plays across scales from the individual to societal, with a critical social justice oriented eye to how we got here and where we might go. He offers practical advice, and a downloadable pdf reflection workbook, that centers on the autistic (and neurodiverse) experience in all of its complexities. Neither downplaying the outright struggle (and the intersections of many privileges which Devon skillfully outlines and acknowledges) nor letting that overshadow the sheer force of power and possibility we (neurodiverse) hold when we are unapologetically unmasked and united. Devon provides a hopeful yet appropriately radical call for building authentic autistic (and neurodiverse) lives and I cannot wait to listen again and purchase his other titles.
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Took me so long to read because I hated it. Once again, reading and digesting new information about Autism and neurodiversity I saw myself in the pages. The book reiterates what I’ve known for years-- that it’s a neurotypical world, that accommodations are possible but asking for them will make certain people think less of you. Asking doesn’t even guarantee such accommodations, and one must go through life with the knowledge that their tribe is out there somewhere-- a unique group of people that may or may not share your past or experiences, who see doing things to help make your life a little easier not as a burden but as a given as your friend or a loved one. That it’s not laziness or worthlessness, but a difference in brain chemistry that makes me the way I am.
This book does its very best to be positive about all this; to celebrate the differences present in the autism, ADHD, queer, and minority communities, but it’s all starting to feel... like fucking Sisyphus on the hill. You go through the motions, you attempt to be understood, you’re humiliated by missing a social cue, you say how you feel but it’s taken completely out of context, you cry, you isolate, and you wake up to either do it all over again or hide in bed all day. Those are the options: misinterpretation or isolation. That’s what life feels like, having masked all my life and now struggling through, like, a four-year-long burnout. This is what Cassandra must have felt like.
Anyway, I hate this book but it’s very informative, optimistic, and well-written/cited. Would totally recommend it to someone who was struggling with something similar. There are plenty of activities to do throughout that urge the reader to reflect on their own life and experiences while reading about the experiences of others in tandem. I felt intense jealousy for all these neurodiverse people in the pages getting their lives together and realized that my own success story could be on the other side of all the fear and depression I carry with me all the time if only I indulged in my hobbies honestly and often enough that I might find like minds or a routine that suited me. I’m not a very optimistic person, so this was a huge light bulb moment despite being a fairly obvious conclusion, but the fear still remains of being badly misconstrued by people who claim to love me or of being mocked for liking what I like.
I bought this book on my birthday in 2022 and it took me a whole year to really crack it open. The exercises in the book are worth going back to and reconsidering/rereading. I can't strain how much I would recommend this book, despite hating it and feeling so defeated and depressed after finishing it. Sometimes wake-up calls are like that, right?
This book does its very best to be positive about all this; to celebrate the differences present in the autism, ADHD, queer, and minority communities, but it’s all starting to feel... like fucking Sisyphus on the hill. You go through the motions, you attempt to be understood, you’re humiliated by missing a social cue, you say how you feel but it’s taken completely out of context, you cry, you isolate, and you wake up to either do it all over again or hide in bed all day. Those are the options: misinterpretation or isolation. That’s what life feels like, having masked all my life and now struggling through, like, a four-year-long burnout. This is what Cassandra must have felt like.
Anyway, I hate this book but it’s very informative, optimistic, and well-written/cited. Would totally recommend it to someone who was struggling with something similar. There are plenty of activities to do throughout that urge the reader to reflect on their own life and experiences while reading about the experiences of others in tandem. I felt intense jealousy for all these neurodiverse people in the pages getting their lives together and realized that my own success story could be on the other side of all the fear and depression I carry with me all the time if only I indulged in my hobbies honestly and often enough that I might find like minds or a routine that suited me. I’m not a very optimistic person, so this was a huge light bulb moment despite being a fairly obvious conclusion, but the fear still remains of being badly misconstrued by people who claim to love me or of being mocked for liking what I like.
I bought this book on my birthday in 2022 and it took me a whole year to really crack it open. The exercises in the book are worth going back to and reconsidering/rereading. I can't strain how much I would recommend this book, despite hating it and feeling so defeated and depressed after finishing it. Sometimes wake-up calls are like that, right?
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
informative
was diagnosed this year as a 25 year old woman. this book is exactly what was needed :’)