Unmasking Autism: The Power of Embracing Our Hidden Neurodiversity by Dr Devon Price

 Unmasking Autism: The Power of Embracing Our Hidden Neurodiversity by Dr Devon Price is a very comprehensive book covering a range of elements, including what autism actually is, why people mask, the co-morbidities which often accompany autism, the risks of masking, why people should unmask and strategies to come out as autistic in a neurotypical world as well as much more. The book has a large focus on how autistic people should be themselves and not be afraid to ask for the access arrangements they need in the neurotypical world so they can succeed and live as close to a normal life as possible.

This book makes a very interesting read, with both surprising, shocking and interesting lessons and ideas about autism. It was particularly interesting, at least to me, reading about the, in my opinion to an extent, inhumane treatment using aversion therapy, but also just how common some of the co-morbidities are, including self-harm, eating disorders, social anxiety, depression and so on. It is commonly believed that there is no treatment for autism so it was also very interesting to read about how some people have been using cannabis, or more specifically CBD, to try and apparently succeed at managing the autistic symptoms. Price also makes a conscious effort to include different types of autistic people, including autistic females, black people, transgender and generally LBBTQ+ autistics. It was nice with the exercises, which were featured in some of the chapters, and I enjoyed the real-life case studies from various autistics, which helped reinforce the point Price was making.

However, it may be said that some of the chapters were quite long, which arguably may not be the most ideal for some autistic and other neurodiverse readers. As well as this, the book was meant to be on autism and unmasking, but I feel that throughout this book, there may have been too much emphasis on female, black and LGBTQ+ autistics. Yes, these people mustn't be forgotten, but I'm not sure it was entirely relevant to repeat this throughout the book. This book seems to be trying to tackle two topics at the same time when it may have been better to write two different books, one on unmasking specifically for autistic people and a second book on autism more generally and the people it impacts with a major focus on those who are underdiagnosed. Because of how these two topics have been combined into one, much of it is very interesting; parts of this book are more relevant to autistics and other parts to non-autistics. Price further makes some recommendations about how this neurotypical world can be more autistic/neurodiverse friendly, but some of these recommendations, I would say, go too far and could be considered unreasonable; they get to the point where there would be positive discrimination. 

Finally, a technical note, there was some inconsistency in the language used, with Price sometimes using "and colleagues" or "and "and others" and other times using the more proper "et al.", so it may 

have been nicer to see some more consistency, with a personal preference for the use of et al.,

Altogether, I rate this book 3 stars, making it a good book. Yes, there are areas of improvement, but this is a great book for autistics to both better understand their mental illness and also learn about the benefits and disadvantages of masking and some advice on the process of unmasking. I would recommend this book to both autistic and non-autistic people. For autistics, it is a great book, as just mentioned, and for neurotypicals and non-autistics, there is relevance to other mental illnesses. Still, I also feel it is important that there is a greater understanding of mental illnesses in general, including autism, so we can work towards a more accessible society. I would like to thank both NetGalley and Octopus Publishing for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in return for an honest book review; I really enjoyed reading it and learned loads of fascinating information about autism.