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raquelrose's review
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Death of parent, Ableism, and Excrement
Minor: Homophobia, Medical content, Dysphoria, Animal cruelty, and Dementia
sreddous's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
4.0
Overall, this is a very interesting look into how one autistic person has come to understand the way their brain works with the complicated world. There are a lot of really sensitive, well-researched, and detail-oriented stories here that I think will really resonate with a lot of people, and that's the beauty of capturing all the possibilities with a situation like autism. This is a super cool perspective to see laid out in a book.
The art and the way the pages are designed are lovely. I adore all of the colors and the "bullet journal" style to how things are formatted. This is very "easy" to read in that the way it draws your eye along is relaxing, and that's super cool.
This is a 4-star book in my opinion because while most of this is truly comforting and interesting, I do feel like some parts were a little too generic -- For most of the time, it comes off as accessible and enlightening! For other times...people who don't have autism get generic advice such as: "be a good listener" and people who do have autism get generic advice such as: "speak up for yourself" that are true but are complicated to actually apply in practice (so more notes on those would have been helpful). I also didn't understand the "normal girls" fiction book snippet -- people who are 'blonde' and 'popular' can be neuroatypical too! It seemed not-inclusive to create an "I'm not like other girls" comparison character.
As another example of wishing we didn't move on too fast from one interesting point to another, I found myself wishing there was more substance to the passages where the author describes having a difficult time processing that sometimes their friends make other friends. What skills could the author teach readers about how they processed that hurt but accepted that it's a normal and healthy part of making different friendships? Things like that aren't touched on in the book, but people who are struggling socially really could have benefited from some deeper analysis IMO, instead of the just "this happened to me, moving on" quick tone that chapter took on.
Still, I'm not saying that "this happened to me" ISN'T a valuable perspective to have with a book like this. There are a TON of extremely relatable details in this book AND some details that I think will help open other peoples' eyes. I'm glad this book is out there especially for young readers as a good introduction to the many ways that an autistic brain can work with the world.
The art and the way the pages are designed are lovely. I adore all of the colors and the "bullet journal" style to how things are formatted. This is very "easy" to read in that the way it draws your eye along is relaxing, and that's super cool.
This is a 4-star book in my opinion because while most of this is truly comforting and interesting, I do feel like some parts were a little too generic -- For most of the time, it comes off as accessible and enlightening! For other times...people who don't have autism get generic advice such as: "be a good listener" and people who do have autism get generic advice such as: "speak up for yourself" that are true but are complicated to actually apply in practice (so more notes on those would have been helpful). I also didn't understand the "normal girls" fiction book snippet -- people who are 'blonde' and 'popular' can be neuroatypical too! It seemed not-inclusive to create an "I'm not like other girls" comparison character.
As another example of wishing we didn't move on too fast from one interesting point to another, I found myself wishing there was more substance to the passages where the author describes having a difficult time processing that sometimes their friends make other friends. What skills could the author teach readers about how they processed that hurt but accepted that it's a normal and healthy part of making different friendships? Things like that aren't touched on in the book, but people who are struggling socially really could have benefited from some deeper analysis IMO, instead of the just "this happened to me, moving on" quick tone that chapter took on.
Still, I'm not saying that "this happened to me" ISN'T a valuable perspective to have with a book like this. There are a TON of extremely relatable details in this book AND some details that I think will help open other peoples' eyes. I'm glad this book is out there especially for young readers as a good introduction to the many ways that an autistic brain can work with the world.
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism
tealbeankai's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This book is a great and accessible resource for those interested in learning more about autism and about themselves. A very honest depiction that I wish I'd had when I was younger.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Excrement
Minor: Ableism, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexism
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