An Adult with an Autism Diagnosis

Despite being published in 2017, there is a lot of outdated terminology at use in this book. While the author does have a caveat near the start explaining his use of Asperger's (given it is/was his diagnosis), it is also still using the "... functioning" terminology, and uses ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) as opposed to ASC (Autism Spectrum Condition).

The message is quite often very confused. With the author on one page saying 'no one should pressure you to be someone you're not' then on another page essentially advising others to mask and make an effort to 'fit in'. In trying to hit all the bases, it detracts from the value of shared experiences described within.

While its title suggests this is aimed at adults who have been newly diagnosed, much of the content seems geared towards young adults who have yet to go out into the world. I found some use in identifying shared experiences that I have also had but I differ strongly from the author in how I want to approach my autism and my place in the world.

This book is very restricted by the medical-model of disability that it ascribes to, which comes across as pathologizing and largely unhelpful. This may be owing to the author's US-centric experiences, I can't say for sure.

In trying to give the benefit of the doubt, I suspect this was written for one person and that was Gillan Drew. If this is what he needed to process some of his experiences, cool, but I definitely don't recommend it for others.