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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed some chapters at the beginning but others didn't resonate with me and were boring powering through those.
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Very very good! This book gives hope to those who are neurodivergent and great insights for those whose loved ones are neurodivergent. Really enjoyed this book.
i think this book is probably very good and helpful but i’ve tried to listen to it twice (speed 1.5 audiobook) and i keep getting bored
informative
reflective
medium-paced
A very accessible exploration of neurodivergence. Journalist and founder of the Neurodiversity Project, Jenara Nuremberg looks at autism, ADHD, Aspergers, synesthesia, and people who are highly sensitive from a non pathologizing perspective. She stresses the importance of understanding that there are many ways our brains can process sensory information; and that rather than label and diagnose, it would be to our benefit to take advantage of the special abilities of highly sensitive people.
Nerenberg places special emphasis on high achieving women who have been diagnosed with "conditions" like autism and Aspergers. Several scientists are included, among them a woman at MIT with Aspergers who thrives at a school where there are many others like her. She says that when she started working at the college she finally found a place where she felt at home.
Fewer women than men have historically been identified as being neurodivergent. Women have often been dismissed as "too sensitive" or hysterical, but with highly sensitive men researchers have searched for underlying causes. Now women are starting to recognize that they too can have high sensitivity, and they can finally stop beating themselves up because they think there is something wrong with themselves.
There is an enormous amount of research being conducted in this area, in animals as well as humans, with implications for the workplace, for families, for social interactions -- essentially for all areas. The trick is acknowledging that people process information in many different ways, and that utilizing their sensitivity can benefit all of us.
Nerenberg places special emphasis on high achieving women who have been diagnosed with "conditions" like autism and Aspergers. Several scientists are included, among them a woman at MIT with Aspergers who thrives at a school where there are many others like her. She says that when she started working at the college she finally found a place where she felt at home.
Fewer women than men have historically been identified as being neurodivergent. Women have often been dismissed as "too sensitive" or hysterical, but with highly sensitive men researchers have searched for underlying causes. Now women are starting to recognize that they too can have high sensitivity, and they can finally stop beating themselves up because they think there is something wrong with themselves.
There is an enormous amount of research being conducted in this area, in animals as well as humans, with implications for the workplace, for families, for social interactions -- essentially for all areas. The trick is acknowledging that people process information in many different ways, and that utilizing their sensitivity can benefit all of us.
Nerenberg does an excellent job in this book of interviewing experts in the field of treating and supporting folks with neurodivergence, including autism, ADHD, synesthesia, HSP, and more, bringing us on a reflective journey learning about each condition, people who navigate these differences every day, and ways to craft a life that supports our unique neurological wiring. Primarily written to and about women, attention is paid to the more overlooked of the sexes, typically underdiagnosed and diagnosed later in life due to high masking.
Having just been diagnosed with autism, ADHD, PTSD, and emotional synesthesia having been born and raised female and entirely overlooked due to high masking and high intelligence, I walked from the testing appointment to the bookstore and this was one of the books I grabbed. I read it at a very critical time of processing my new diagnoses and needing to hear what this book so clearly illustrates in every interview, every reflection, every moment: that we are not broken, we are not alone, and there is a massive amount of research and support available to help. That life doesn't have to be one long exercise in masking and coping; I can design a life that allows me to thrive, in my home, at work, socially, and more.
My critiques are few but important, and I hope they will be addressed in later editions. Being published after the DSM-V, there is no need to include the language of Aspergers when discussing autism. Separating autists into high-functioning and low-functioning under the name of an abusive Nazi has no place in our community. High-masking to low-masking and high-support-needs to low-support-needs are valid and accepted ways of looking at such differences across the autism spectrum without that antiquated term harkening to an abusive history and value hierarchy. I hope in later editions this history is explored, addressed, and more inclusive terms are adopted and used throughout.
Lastly, if we truly want to be inclusive of marginalized and underdiagnosed gender identities in neurodivergent research, diagnostic criteria, and life, there needs to be more attention toward LGBTQIA+ identities and neurodivergence. This book primarily focused on cisgender women and their marginalization, but a much larger percentage of neurodivergent people are gender or sexually diverse than in the neurotypical population, meaning that neglecting us in the research, diagnostics, and narrative not only isn't inclusive, but it is damaging to a large portion of the neurodivergent population. It makes sense that differences in neurology can show up in this way and I hope not only for more inclusive language but also more sex/gender inclusive research, diagnostics, discussions, communities, and so on.
Overall I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it with those 2 caveats. My gratitude to the author and best of luck in future work with the Neurodiversity Project and future writings
Having just been diagnosed with autism, ADHD, PTSD, and emotional synesthesia having been born and raised female and entirely overlooked due to high masking and high intelligence, I walked from the testing appointment to the bookstore and this was one of the books I grabbed. I read it at a very critical time of processing my new diagnoses and needing to hear what this book so clearly illustrates in every interview, every reflection, every moment: that we are not broken, we are not alone, and there is a massive amount of research and support available to help. That life doesn't have to be one long exercise in masking and coping; I can design a life that allows me to thrive, in my home, at work, socially, and more.
My critiques are few but important, and I hope they will be addressed in later editions. Being published after the DSM-V, there is no need to include the language of Aspergers when discussing autism. Separating autists into high-functioning and low-functioning under the name of an abusive Nazi has no place in our community. High-masking to low-masking and high-support-needs to low-support-needs are valid and accepted ways of looking at such differences across the autism spectrum without that antiquated term harkening to an abusive history and value hierarchy. I hope in later editions this history is explored, addressed, and more inclusive terms are adopted and used throughout.
Lastly, if we truly want to be inclusive of marginalized and underdiagnosed gender identities in neurodivergent research, diagnostic criteria, and life, there needs to be more attention toward LGBTQIA+ identities and neurodivergence. This book primarily focused on cisgender women and their marginalization, but a much larger percentage of neurodivergent people are gender or sexually diverse than in the neurotypical population, meaning that neglecting us in the research, diagnostics, and narrative not only isn't inclusive, but it is damaging to a large portion of the neurodivergent population. It makes sense that differences in neurology can show up in this way and I hope not only for more inclusive language but also more sex/gender inclusive research, diagnostics, discussions, communities, and so on.
Overall I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it with those 2 caveats. My gratitude to the author and best of luck in future work with the Neurodiversity Project and future writings
Reading this while waiting for my ADHD diagnosis. I think I agree with some of the reviews here. This book is clearly for late diagnostic or non-diagnostic but feeling like they're having some neurodivergent issues (even though by the stories they seem to have the means to have diagnosed? idk) that was already successfully masking their symptoms so the symptoms were manageable at some point. It's a good book for when you feel like you might have neurodivergent symptoms but still have trouble accessing diagnostic or not sure about it yet. But I might say listening to some neurodivergent' own voice on youtube nowadays is more or less the same with reading this book, as this in my opinion didn't add more value than a compilation of some late-diagnostic account on their journey, more like what you can get on youtube.
I found this to be a really helpful resource to expand my vocabulary and understanding of what neurodiversity is and how it presents in women.
reflective
medium-paced