Review: The Unmasking Workbook for Autistic Adults by Jessica Penot

The Unmasking Workbook for Autistic Adults
by Jessica Penot

My Rating: 3 stars
Genre: Nonfiction/ Autism/ Neurodivergent

Blurb:
Let this workbook guide you toward your authentic, autistic self. You don’t have to hide anymore.

If you grew up before the neurodiversity movement, chances are you were taught at an early age that your autistic traits were “wrong” or “bad.” Whether it was stimming, difficulties with making small talk, avoiding eye contact, sensitivities to loud sounds or certain textures, or even talking passionately about the things you care about—somewhere along the way you learned to mask these aspects of yourself to better fit in, avoid bullying from other kids, and in some cases to even gain the love of your own parents. The problem is that, over time, masking can lead to higher levels of stress, burnout, emotional dysregulation, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and depression. So how can you be your authentic self and still succeed and thrive in a neurotypical world?

Written by a therapist who is actually autistic, this neurodiversity-affirming workbook offers skills to help you cultivate self-acceptance, manage intense emotions, and be your own advocate when needed. You’ll take a good look at the situations or people that caused you to mask in the first place. You’ll also discover:
– How to set and achieve your own authentic goals—with a clear view of who you are and what you care about
– Why self-love and self-acceptance is so important for autistic folks
– How to live your life on your own terms, while self-advocating for accommodations
– How to let go of old, hurtful messages about autistic people that you’ve internalized
– How autism can be both a strength and a disability
– Strategies to cope with burnout or meltdowns
– How to be assertive and set boundaries with others

You don’t have to mask, hide, or camouflage any longer. Let this workbook guide you on a journey of self-discovery and acceptance. You are worthy of it. And you deserve it.

My Review

I received a free copy from the publisher through Netgalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

After getting diagnosed as autistic last year I’ve been reading a lot about autism. This one caught my eye on Netgalley and I liked the idea of the focus being on unmasking. While this book wasn’t quite for me, others might get more benefit from it.

As I already read, listened and watched a lot about autism this book didn’t have much new information to me. The workbook element of this book didn’t work for me, I would rather just read the information and start thinking about it myself naturally than have these specific questions. Some of the graphs and exercises also didn’t quite show up correctly in my copy, but I assume that’s because I got an arc and this shouldn’t be an issue with the final version. Then there was the text “uncorrected proof” that was in the middle of paragraphs or even sentences quite frequently, it was in bold and a larger font and was quite jarring. Again not something you should encounter in the final version, but it was jarring and didn’t help with my enjoyment of the book. Something about the writing style and tone of this book just didn’t quite work for me, I can’t quite figure out what or why.

I thought the way the book was organized in chapters each with a different focus worked well. The author asked a lot of questions that were aimed to make the reader think and figure things out for themselves. It’s not an easy to follow plan or set of steps, but instead a book that is designed to make you think and decide for yourself what you want to do. It just wasn’t as helpful to me personally, but that’s probably as I’ve already consumed so much content about autism. I also felt it didn’t address a few things I struggle with during unmasking like how to unmask with people you’ve known for a long time and that internal drive to keep behaving the same way you always have.

To summarize: I didn’t get as much out of this book as I had hoped, it didn’t have much new info or insights for me, but that’s also because I’ve already consumed a lot of content about autism. The writing style didn’t quite work for me and I had a few struggles with the formatting of the arc, which shouldn’t be an issue with the final version. The workbook style with the questions asked didn’t work for me. I liked the focus on unmasking and the way the book was organized. I liked how it was designed to make you think and decide for yourself what to do.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.