WHERE TO GET THE BOOK: http://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=F6B31A8DAFD6BD39A5986833E66293E6

Audiobook format (expires 1/27): https://litter.catbox.moe/l3298q.m4b

So, this post will be “Introduction” in the sense that it will introduce us all to the book club and the book, and we will also be covering the introduction. The emotional content is pretty heavy; as such I figured it deserved its own discussion. It’s not especially long, but it covers Dr. Price’s journey into accepting his autism, and if you’re on the spectrum or even just neurodivergent in general you’ll probably strongly relate to a lot of what he lays down here. You, like me, may read this chapter and find yourself thinking he’s literally me, he just like me, he just like me fr ong no cap denji-just-like-me

Dr. Price is a transgender social psychologist born in Ohio, who graduated from Loyola University Chicago where he teaches as a professor in continuing studies. He wrote and published Laziness Does Not Exist before this one, and it’s also worth a read. In this book, Dr. Price also discusses his gender identity and how there’s a very high incidence of gender non-conformity amongst neurodiverse people. So in addition to folks with ADHD and autism, or those with other neurodiversities, it can also benefit LGBT+ folks who have to cover up their true selves for safety or social acceptance.

I plan on making another post about chapter one on Sunday or Monday of next week, depending on whether I can make time, and then one post about each chapter every week or every other week depending on what people’s feedback is.

In the intro, Dr. Price discusses his personal and emotional problems, social isolation, autistic self-discovery and research, entry into the autism self-advocacy community, and official diagnosis. He discusses how people who don’t fit the stereotype of autism are often neglected by medical professionals. How this neglect harms neurodiverse people of all stripes, and how unmasking can be a key to a full, authentic life. (Here’s hoping.)

He describes unmasking as a frightning and, indeed, potentially dangerous prospect, but provides tools throughout for approaching the process and beginning to know yourself, find where the mask ends and you begin, and believe that the person underneath is worth knowing in the first place.

First, discussion questions:

  • What interested you in this book club?
  • Are you neurodiverse? Do you know someone who is?
  • What stood out to you about the introduction? Any choice quotes? Anything you relate to?

He ends with an exercise called the Values-Based Integration Process, which we’ll go over below.

VALUES-BASED INTEGRATION PROCESS (by Heather R Morgan) STEP ONE

"Think of five moments in your life where you felt like you were FULLY ALIVE. Try to find moments throughout your life (childhood, adolescence, adulthood, school, work, vacation, hobbies)

Some of the moments might leave you with a sense of awe and wonder – ‘Wow, if all of life was like that, it would be amazing!’

Some of the moments might leave you feeling deeply recharged and ready to face the next challenge, or satisfied and fulfilled."

The books says to write it down in as much detail as possible, but I don’t actually expect anyone to post all that stuff here. Just a personal exercise to get the juices flowing. I’ll post some of my own personal thoughts in a comment below.

CARCOSA@hexbear.net , I was asked to tag you for a sticky on this. I think a few mods are in my tag list as well if you can’t get to it.

The following folks asked to be tagged:

  • albiguEnglish
    4·
    8 months ago

    What interested you in this book club?

    I’ve been on a reading and listening (audiobook) binge for months now, and have never read a book about autism that satisfied me. Since I saw a description of this book and played it for like 1 minute I can’t stop listening to chapters of it on repeat.

    Are you neurodiverse? Do you know someone who is?

    Yes, I’m Autistic with a dash of ADHD. Been aware since I was a child. I’ve also basically only truly mingled with other Autistic or neurodiverse people, and I’m pretty sure I could try to interpret some family members as such too, but we hardly ever get in touch these days.

    What stood out to you about the introduction? Any choice quotes? Anything you relate to?

    I was very pleasantly surprised that the author tackled the question of how race, gender, sexuality and class affect one’s Autistic experience and behaviour. I’ve always been annoyed at this stereotype I’ve always called “white autism” of privileged kids who used their diagnosis as a justification to be horrible people. Since “Asperger’s Syndrome” is now a discredited term (because people remembered he was a Nazi collaborator), it has become another insult of choice among my groups.

    Other than that, the generally hopeful tone caught my eye. I have dealt with Anhedonia for most of my adult life, and generally feel like I don’t even mask that much and have never associated it with being Autistic. But now, listening to this random person who never met me just casually list a ton of stuff that I went through as “common things”, I’m paying attention.

    The exercise for this chapter feels weird to me. There are some moments where I’ve “felt alive” in a sense, but they’re usually incredibly unhealthy moments, either related to gaming addiction or dumb experimentations with my body and metabolism. I’m not sure if these are things I should be encouraging.

    Though playing 500 hours of “Fire Emblem: Three Houses” during the pandemic definitely made me realise I’m an actual history nerd and should read more history. So I guess something good came out of that one addiction there.