Books

NAS93538 said:

Autism in Adults - Dr Luke Beardon. I really liked this one since reading it and recognising so many identical situations to myself. Written by a guy who has extensively studied but no autistic themselves.

Given you liked this book, you may enjoy Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Adults, also by Luke Beardon. In his initial books, he doesn’t identify as autistic but in his later books, it seems as though he may be questioning his autistic identity (which would make sense given how well he understands us).

NAS93538 said:

Unmasking Autidm - Dr Devon Price. I've got one chapter into this and am returning it. Seems to be a fixation on autism being a disability

Yes that’s exactly why I don’t want to read it. Our autistic way of being is by definition a neurotype and I don’t identify as disabled in any way, being autistic is utterly enabling and so I completely understand why you describe your autistic experience as a superpower. That’s great!

I am incredibly proud to be autistic (and more broadly neurodivergent) and one of the many reasons why I don’t identify as disabled is because it has negative connotations and secondly because it is genuinely incorrect. However I do understand that some other members of our autistic community feel differently and that is usually because of co-occurring experiences, not being autistic.

I've got a few pages into the Devon price book and haven't gone back to it yet. 

Autism has been a life of extremes so far. Some extremely distressing times and some extremely good as a result of having certain abilities. Unfortunately I think there's been too much negative for me to say I love it. but that's perhaps down to me not having the knowledge to manage myself better, so post diagnosis me might fair better, we'll see! I wouldn't be any different though, it's me and that's that.

Not sure it's a superpower, but it certainly has some positives along with it's negatives.

Autisician said:

Not sure it's a superpower, but it certainly has some positives along with it's negatives.

Yes I understand that, it’s the same with every neurotype. Our autistic experiences are notably more intense because of our monotropic cognitive style and resulting spiky profiles.

Autisician said:

Unfortunately I think there's been too much negative for me to say I love it. but that's perhaps down to me not having the knowledge to manage myself better, so post diagnosis me might fair better, we'll see! I wouldn't be any different though, it's me and that's that.

I am sorry that has been your experience, the autistic discovery journey is not linear and I hope at some stage you may feel differently.

You may find this graphic below helpful, it explains the variety of emotions and stages of autistic discovery:

https://aucademy.co.uk/2022/01/20/six-common-reactions-during-autistic-discovery/?amp=1

I hope this helps.

I'll add that to my list. I'm slow at getting through books, I tend to buy them and they sit on a shelf for a year then eventually I remember and then get into them and don't put them down till I'm done. Same with some clothes weirdly enough, I wear them the first time after a year or two of buying them and forgetting they're in a drawer or wardrobe.

I liked The Gendered Brain by Gina Ripon, who's a neurologist, it's not always an easy read and isn't a "how to" book, but a good look at the reseach and the tiny sample sizes of many of the studies and the sweeping generalisations made from such statistically small numbers. It shows how so much research has been done on what's traditionally been seen as male behaviour and autistic traits and how wrong this is, for men and women. As well as the implications for how autism is dealt with in the "real" world.

I liked The Gendered Brain by Gina Ripon, who's a neurologist, it's not always an easy read and isn't a "how to" book, but a good look at the reseach and the tiny sample sizes of many of the studies and the sweeping generalisations made from such statistically small numbers. It shows how so much research has been done on what's traditionally been seen as male behaviour and autistic traits and how wrong this is, for men and women. As well as the implications for how autism is dealt with in the "real" world.

I'll add that to my list. I'm slow at getting through books, I tend to buy them and they sit on a shelf for a year then eventually I remember and then get into them and don't put them down till I'm done. Same with some clothes weirdly enough, I wear them the first time after a year or two of buying them and forgetting they're in a drawer or wardrobe.