Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity by Devon Price

28 reviews

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

hopeful informative medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Medical content

Moderate: Racism, Bullying, Transphobia, and Sexism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Self harm, Pandemic/Epidemic, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

jcinf's review

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. 

So many good, actionable “worksheets”/charts in here. I left them blank so I can go back to them and take my time filling them out. 

The author’s recognition of multiply marginalized people and not applying blanket advice to unmask was good to see. And just acknowledging that it’s not always safe to unmask is great. Nuance makes me so happy. 

Also with nuance: the awareness of getting a professional diagnosis and how it can be helpful or harmful, I love. 

And the recognition of the value of self-diagnosing — or as the author says “self-realizing” made me feel seen. 

One pet peeve: he called an individual Autistic person “neurodiverse” — instead of “neurodivergent.” One person cannot be neurodiverse. 

Neurodiverse is a term that describes the diversity of neurotypes. Aka: a group of people. 

Neurodivergent is a term that describes an individual who diverges from dominant societal norms. 

All trigger warnings are mentioned but do not go into descriptive detail. They’re merely mentioned to create a well-rounded discussion on the intersecting “issues” surrounding Autism. 

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Extended review:
Favorite quotes below. They’re long, but I like to write them down. 

“I absorbed the idea, common to many “gifted” children, that a person’s intellectual potential belongs to society, not to themselves, and that they owe the world greatness to justify their oddness.”

“Neurotypical 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.”

“You cannot craft a comfortable or worthwhile life if you don’t 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 society’s rules.” 

“‘It’s neurotypical who categorized autism as a social disorder.’ Autistic people don’t lack communication skills, or a drive to connect. We aren’t 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 — including neurotypicals — is welcome.”

“We 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.”

“The 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.”

“Stepping back and taking a look at my key memories and core values, I can see that I’m a dynamic powerful clearheaded person… I’m so different from the inept, powerless, clueless, needy, figure that I have always worried people might see me as I’m also nothing like the frigid passive intellectual, I’ve often masked myself as.”

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Content Warnings

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

crunchycrystals's review against another edition

informative reflective

5.0

literally just finished it maybe 10 seconds ago probably less but this book changed my life i have discovered so much about my brain and i can't wait to do these exercises

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Eating disorder, Police brutality, Racism, Alcoholism, and Sexism

michaelion's review

challenging hopeful informative tense medium-paced

4.5

I didn't read this book. Page after page after page, this book read me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Ableism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racism, Self harm, Addiction, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Homophobia, and Sexism

linblythe_pub22's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0

This book has helped me immeasurably. It taught me new and deeper ways of unmasking with the help of what felt like a parasocial relationship with autistic community via the extensive interviews and sources used in the book. It doesn't give you any copout answers; Dr Price lays out the small thing autistic folk like me can do for ourselves but more significantly, the systemic changes we must fight for if the world is to be safe, free and joyful for everyone.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism and Medical content

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Bullying, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Stalking, and Transphobia

spacekee's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Bullying

Moderate: Addiction, Self harm, Medical trauma, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Police brutality, and Sexism

ryyyaaan's review

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

This book is wonderful. To any autistic person or anyone with friends, family members, or loved ones who are autistic, you should read this. I feel so seen. I feel like I understand myself and my disability better. I feel more okay with myself.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Sexism, Classism, Mental illness, and Ableism

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Bullying, Body shaming, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Racism

smallredboy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

5.0

Wonderful book; I loved its focus towards an Autistic audience and it helped me a lot to think about myself as a disabled person, about my masking experiences, and what the world needs to do to better accept everyone. I loved it to pieces and I can't wait to have it physically. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Racism, Violence, and Police brutality

kjoli's review

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Fatphobia, Addiction, Ableism, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Drug use, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Racism, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Police brutality, Bullying, Drug abuse, and Gaslighting

fujo_cat's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

This is going to be my new personal recommendation for people looking for nonfiction books on autism!

I remember seeing this book around when it came out and I added it to my TBR immediately. It wasn’t until I watched an autistic tiktok compilation with so many people praising and recommending it that I actually picked it up. I’m glad I did! 

I had to write my review on it as soon as I finished listening to it. It’s been so long since I finished a book this fast; granted, I was listening to it on 2x, but it was still very enjoyable and informative. I can now understand the praise it got from the community and I agree — it’s definitely worth a read/listen. 

I had some expectations, I’m not going to lie; I did pick this up because of all the praise, so I was expecting something good. I’ll be honest, though, I wasn’t expecting something this good! I have this problem with nonfiction, that I usually can’t get into it after some pages — I tend to get bored of it. It did not happen with this one! There was no filler and although some information overlapped, it never felt unnecessary.

Wait, I’m done already? — this is what I thought at the end of it; seriously, it was way too quick. 

I usually don’t read or listen to nonfiction and I’m pretty picky with my choices. I’m glad it did not disappoint. 

I think what made this book so good is the way it takes a subject like autism and expands on it — taking into consideration a percentage of autistic people who are either undiagnosed, high-masking, or a mix of autistic and black/queer/trans/etc.. As an autistic AAA battery (agender, aromantic and asexual), I’m glad my existence was approached in a respectful and interesting way! 

Besides, it is also written in a professional but easy-to-understand way, which I can certainly appreciate. 

☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°★.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°★.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°★.。.:*・

Basically, this is a great book: easy to understand writing, an inclusive approach and a fantastic topic to explore. 

I’ll totally recommend this one to you if you are interesting in knowing more about autism and how it might manifest in those who mask. 

This book changed my view of myself as an autistic person, honestly. If you care even a bit for this topic or you have people in your life who are autistic or even neurodivergent, please give it a chance! 

Overall, I definitely enjoyed this and I’m looking forward to more books from Price! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Ableism, and Mental illness

Minor: Self harm, Police brutality, Transphobia, Eating disorder, and Racism