@autistics So I've been reading Devon's Unmasking Autism. I find myself unsettled:

1. Devon is insistent on one or two qualities shared among all autistics. He emphasizes repeatedly that we are all bottom up thinkers. He seems to say that this is not just universal among autistics but that it shows up pervasively in all of our experiences.
2. He notes overlapping conditions but seems to present little to no information about the lived experience of being autistic while also being X for various values of X.
3. I *do* appreciate exploring LGBTQ+, black, and brown experiences. Eating disorders however, in my incomplete reading thus far, seem to have limited exploration.
4. Late-diagnosed experience is explored a little but so far not deeply.
5. Much of his writing seems anecdotal and based on his own experiences while sometimes tangentially and occasionally deeply exploring others' experiences.
6. I see his work cited repeatedly in the community.

Objectively, I find (5) concerning exactly because most of this work is literally not objective. I realize making such a work requires advancing the science significantly. Subjectively, I am concerned because I see this work lauded somewhat frequently.

To my other points, I find myself excluded from his work in a number of ways. In particular, I am most disconcerted by:

A. The absence of a deep exploration of #actuallyaudhd. This presentation occurs significantly in the #actuallyautistic community. With his work so focused on the autistic experience with little exploration of what it's like to live as a significant subtype? I literally am gaslighting myself as I read his book. Am I really autistic? Devon's definitions don't apply to me easily.
B. Arguably a subset of A. Am I a "bottom up thinker"? Maybe? I wouldn't use those words.

I am, instead, this:

- A *pattern matcher*. Given many disparate data points, far and near, not even in the same domain, I tend see systems—sometimes fractally. It causes me to rightly predict outcomes most others don't see as early, Examples: a) I predicted COVID's explosive growth and risk a couple of months before the media told the public (not self-aggrandizing here but literal example), b) I predict the outcome of most every book and television program I take in. Re: b) it is the rare storyteller who gets by me without a deus ex machina (and I deeply appreciate those precious remarkable works that do surprise... but I digress)
- late diagnosed ADHD-C and later diagnosed autistic with C-PTSD who has had BED most of his life

I not only don't feel seen in this book but find myself literally gaslit reading it. If I don't match his definition, and was diagnosed autistic, is my diagnosis therefore wrong? Without an exploration of AuDHD, I am left feeling unmoored by his work. I find myself looking for patterns in my behavior that match his definition and don't. Selection and confirmation bias makes this even more dysphoric!