What books can help a late-diagnosed Autistic person understand more?
When I've been asked this question in the past, Untypical, A Book about Autism by Pete Wharmby has been one of the books I refer people to, with the comment that it's sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read, so I can't recommend it personally but I've heard others speak very highly of it.
So I took it on holiday with me, as that's the only time I really read paperbacks.
And now I can recommend it wholeheartedly, as someone who has read it.
I resonate with so many of the experiences Pete describes. Some less so, but that's because we are all different and each of us experiences our Neurodivergence in a different way.
There are so many great quotes that I'll come back to, so many examples that come up time and time again with my coaching clients. You can see how many post-it notes I used to mark paragraphs!
One quote that I will share though, because it's something I often try to explain to people, is the complexity of Autistic masking:
"Over time my mask, so separate from myself, began to be as complex as my own personality. I'm loath to suggest that this constructed mask was a total deception or lie, as it wasn't deliberate or designed to confound. But it was a layer of pretence. It was acting, but without a script."
Not all Autistic people have the ability to mask. Matt Gupwell speaks eloquently on this topic. But I'm one of those who does mask, and did mask unwittingly for the 40 years prior to my diagnosis.
Thank you for writing this book Pete.
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