dizzyindecision's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

4.5


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sevensableyes's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

4.0

A good book, definitely reccomend for people questioning. Easy to read and process. I'll definitely need to look into more books about autism, but I think this was a good starting point.

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stacy837's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0


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ge0rgiekate's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.5


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rionstorm's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

 I was tentatively starting to research Autism as smth that may apply to me, and this book basically came to my house and put its hand on my shoulder and went "yeah, bro". Really amazing book grounded in disability justice, exploring what non-stereotypical autism can look like and the function/effects of masking. It's written by a trans person, so feels really queer friendly, and also gives a lot of consideration to autistic people with intersecting identities. Made me cry many times.

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jenny_librarian's review against another edition

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challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

A very interesting book about being autistic and learning to unmask and accept yourself.

Seeking an autism diagnosis as an adult is extremely difficult. Most people who don’t realize they are autistic before adulthood have low support needs, and have been masking all their life. It makes it incredibly hard then to figure out which parts of you are the mask and which are your true self. Despite the numerous green sticky notes I used when relating to autistic traits mentioned, I gaslighted myself throughout the whole thing, figuring that since I didn’t have it “that bad”, I must be appropriating an identity that wasn’t mine.

This book was illuminating on some points, but should definitely be used as part of a larger research if you think you are on the spectrum. It did include BIPOC and queer perspectives as well as those from people with other disabilities, something that not enough books and research do.

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random19379's review against another edition

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informative

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thesupermassive's review against another edition

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challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

This book has likely changed my life. If I could rate this any higher I would. I will be purchasing a physical copy so I can keep it on my shelf for frequent reference. Even if I already knew many of these things about myself I was so strongly in denial and ashamed of them. This book has helped me see the ways I have harmfully been censoring myself and started work to live a more genuine life to my comfort. Highly highly highly recommend to anyone who thinks they might be autistic, know they are but aren’t sure what ‘to do’ about it, or those who love an autistic person and want to understand them better. 

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sarahna's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0


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moonyreadsbystarlight's review against another edition

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informative reflective

5.0

This was such an incredible book! Written by an autistic trans social psychologist, this focused on high masking autistic experiences. He begins by talking about who is more likely to mask/less likely to be diagnosed as a child, what traits get overlooked, issues with how autism is "treated". Then, he goes into what masking can look like, how we might decide to unmask, and ending with what we need to do as a society to make it a safe place for people to live unmasked. I really loved that he talks so much about the social - not just ableism and stigma, but also aspects of racism, impact of poverty, and transphobia, among other things. 

This can be useful for anyone looking to understand the autistic experience, but it's written more specifically for neurodivergent people (especially for autistics, but but he talks about the fact that other ND folks can experience masking as well). I've looked a lot into autism over the years - especially the experiences of those diagnosed as an adult. Even still, there were so many things that he described and connected that made so much more sense. It's another book that I wish I'd had years ago, but am very grateful to have have it now.

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