Unmasking Autism: The Power of Embracing Our Hidden Neurodiversity is a book by Devon Price.
I didn’t think I would find a book I loved as much as Neuroqueer Heresies, but here we are. Price explores the experience of masked autistics (those who hide their neurodivergent traits) in depth.
Neurodivergence is often defined by how much it impacts neurotypical people. For example, a children that can often be noisy or moving around in class might be described as “very” ADHD. Whereas another child who hides their kinetic traits and experiences a large amount of mental health issues and exhaustion as a result might be described as less ADHD, or not ADHD at all, even though their internal experience is the same.
Price goes on to describe how the messages we receive in a childhood can often lead to opposing reactions. For example, a child who is told they are too needy and intense may become hyper independent, emotionally avoidant, and struggle to ask for help. Those told they are selfish and robotic may become overly helpful people pleasers, unable to assert their own needs.
Engagement in interests is also defined in terms of its ability to make money or fit in with society. If someone spends all day playing with trains, they might fit an autistic stereotype. But what about individuals who are obsessed with work, spending 80 hours a week at the office? Many people in tech are self-taught having spent their entire teenage years sitting in front of a computer. Others spend their teenage years studying people: fashion, makeup, conversation, social dynamics, treating learning to fit in as a science.
All of this, and much more detailed in the book, leads to much of autistic experience being hidden.
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Tags: autism, neurodiversity
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 21st, 2026 at 11:00 am and is filed under Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.