{"id":21384,"date":"2022-12-19T11:31:40","date_gmt":"2022-12-19T16:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=21384"},"modified":"2022-12-19T11:31:40","modified_gmt":"2022-12-19T16:31:40","slug":"uniquely-human-a-different-way-of-seeing-autism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21384","title":{"rendered":"Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Uniquely Human: Updated and Expanded: A Different Way of Seeing Autism<\/em><\/a> (2015) Barry M. Prizant<\/p>\n

\"Uniquely<\/a>I get why this was the first book the doctor recommended to me. Really, I do. The diagnoses were a lot to take in (at any age, but especially this late in ones life) and there is always stigma attached to any mental diagnosis, and this book specifically seeks to dismiss stigma and any negative feelings one might have about a diagnosis, which is a very good thing.<\/p>\n

But it is written for parents, so a great deal of it didn’t feel relevant. But it was good to see things laid out in black and white.<\/p>\n

The terms neurodiverse and neurodivergent have also come into common use, though their meanings vary. In some cases, they\u2019re used to acknowledge that every mind is unique, and there is no \u201cnormal\u201d mind. We use these terms to refer to those who are autistic or have other differences, which may include conditions such as ADHD, learning disabilities, and mental health conditions as well as autism. In most cases, when the term \u201cautistic child\u201d or \u201cautistic person\u201d is used, the comment is relevant for those other neurodivergent individuals who do not have a specific autism spectrum diagnosis. We use the term \u201cneurotypical\u201d for those who are not autistic, neurodiverse, or neurodivergent.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Including the central tenet of the book.<\/p>\n

The behavior of autistic children and adults isn\u2019t random, deviant, or bizarre, as many professionals have called it for decades. These people don\u2019t come from Mars. The things they say aren\u2019t\u2014 as many professionals still maintain\u2014 meaningless or \u201cnonfunctional.\u201d <\/p>\n

Autism isn\u2019t an illness. It\u2019s a different way of being human.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is so much other-ism in the world, and so much doubt and shame about differences it is good to have this repeated.<\/p>\n

And it did go over some concepts that were extremely helpful.<\/p>\n

When some autistic people encounter strong emotions in other people\u2014 happiness, sadness, excitement, nervousness\u2014 they become confused and even dysregulated themselves. It\u2019s as if they are absorbing the intensity of the emotions, without understanding why they feel as they do.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(M)asking is an effort to hide one\u2019s authentic identity to avoid being seen as different. Repressing your natural reactions in this way can cause great stress and anxiety, sometimes leading to emotional and physical exhaustion some people on the spectrum call \u201cautistic burnout.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So it was probably a good place to start, but not extremely helpful for a newly diagnosed adult, although it would be excellent for parents.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Simon & Schuster<\/p>\n

Rating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Uniquely Human: Updated and Expanded: A Different Way of Seeing Autism (2015) Barry M. Prizant I get why this was the first book the doctor recommended to me. Really, I do. The diagnoses were a lot to take in (at any age, but especially this late in ones life) and there is always stigma attached […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[292,207,608,4],"tags":[508],"class_list":["post-21384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ebook","category-mental-health-rep","category-neurodiversity","category-non-fiction","tag-asd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-5yU","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21387,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21387","url_meta":{"origin":21384,"position":0},"title":"We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation","author":"Michelle","date":"December 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"We're Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation (2021) Eric Garcia This is book where I jumped from section to section, looking for bits that were pertinent to what I needed at the time I picked it up. 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