Untypical: How The World Isn’t Built For Autistic People And What We Should All Do About It, the latest work by Pete Wharmby, goes on sale tomorrow (Thursday), published by HarperCollins. Als “ervaringsdeskundige” (mocht deze term je tenen doen krullen, mijn excuses hiervoor) lees ik me nu en dan in over autisme. Bij het kopen van dit boek verwachtte ik ook niet al te veel nieuwe informatie. Toch overtuigde het simpele, maar allesomvattende cover en titel mij om het boek mee naar huis te nemen. So if you want to learn how to make life for your Favorite Autistic™ a little less confusing and overwhelming, this is the book.

A wonderful book about achieving better awareness and a more inclusive society for people on the autism spectrum.’ – Roger ClarkApril is #autismawarenessmonth and as you can see from my copy of Un-Typical by Pete Wharmby, this book has been well read and I've even re-read parts for a second time as I've found it so eye-opening. A wonderful, compassionate, important book, exploring the many faces of neurodivergence, and offering ways for everyone to make life kinder for those who are wired differently.’ – Joanne Harris My son always comes home from school or social outings absolutely shattered and needing time to decompress after hours of sensory stimulation and Pete's writing has helped me to better understand how all of life's unwritten rules to socially adapt are hugely mentally and physically draining.

A former teacher, Pete has shared his very personal experiences in this book, sharing what it means to be “different” and how exhausting is it to fit into a world not designed for someone who is neurodivergent. Not diagnosed until he was 34, Pete has experienced a lifetime of “masking”– a tool used by many autistic people. Adapted from Untypical, Pete explains “masking”: This book is a great starting point for people, not autistic and autistic alike, who want to know what life for autistic people can look like. It's an important source for friends, family and especially employers! This is a great book for someone with a family member or friend who has been diagnosed with autism to give them a slight insight into some aspects of autism. Autism is on such a wide spectrum that it can not be applied to every diagnosis.Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth This brilliant, funny, important book shows how we can all make the world a bit better for everyone but especially our neurodiverse friends, loved ones and possibly ourselves.’ Sarah Hart Eerst en vooral zit Wharmby, de auteur, zelf op het autismespectrum. Aangezien de meeste onderzoeken worden gedaan door neurotypische “experts” − maar daar is er verandering in aan het komen − beschouw ik dit als een positief aspect. Wharmby schrijft op een manier waarop ik me volledig kon inleven in het verhaal. Of dit nu te danken is aan zijn schrijfvaardigheid of aan mijn eigen ervaring als iemand op het spectrum, dat laat ik in het midden. Ook wisselt hij regelmatig af tussen persoonlijke en algemene anekdotes, naar mijn gevoel zit de balans goed.

The modern world is built for neurotypicals. Needless noise, bright flashing lights, small talk, implication and ‘unwritten rules’; it can be a nightmarish dystopia as far as the autistic population is concerned. In Untypical World, Pete Wharmby lays bare the experience of being ‘different’, explaining with wit and warmth just how exhausting it is to fit into a world not designed for you. A former Spalding man hopes to increase the public’s levels of ‘compassion and kindness’ towards people with autism with the launch of his new book. I wanted to understand how people with autism are different, what it is that sets them apart for a diagnosis and how to manage that in different aspects of their lives, but I find I am still guessing. Interesting book and definitely worth a read. As a parent to an autistic son, it has opened my eyes to how some seemingly innocuous scenarios or settings may feel very different to an autistic person. I found the the chapters on special interests and also school very informative.So read this, because we need to build a better world for autistic kids and adults, which would benefit everyone else, too.

Pete wants to bust a range of myths and stereotypes, particularly in schools. As an example, he says: It often begins in childhood, when it becomes apparent that their social skills are different to that of their peers and they’re frequently at a loss to understand what’s going on. Frequently, autistic people are mistreated and bullied because of all or some of these things. This leads a lot of the autistic community to learn how to adopt a kind of persona – based on all the things they have noticed in other people – to fit more easily into society. Considering it’s usually self-taught, it’s often extraordinarily successful and is one of the main reasons why so many autistic people slip through the diagnostic net and only realise they’re neurodivergent much later in life.”This is an informative and interesting book about being autistic in a hostile world. It is aimed at allistic (non-autistic) and neurotypical people, with helpful advice on how to be more autism-friendly. Wharmby covers areas of life such as school, the workplace, and relationships, recounting his own experiences and providing a guide on how autistic people can struggle to cope and what can be done to accommodate them. Pete was diagnosed with Autism later in life and courageously shares how difficult daily life is living in an neurotypical world. This book has helped me enter a little bit further into the world my son battles with daily and gives such invaluable and insightful lessons and experiences that can make life that little bit easier for autistic children and adults. Pete uses his own experiences and great humour to highlight the very simple and little tweaks and changes we can all do to make daily life whether in a school or work setting or in social environments that bit easier for neurodiverse children and adults. My first difficulty is because I am keenly aware of the existence in the world and especially around autism of those who enjoy, or are compelled to take, contrarian and hypercritical positions, perhaps because any mistakes or disagreements overshadow anything positive, perhaps because of their particular difficulties in generalising from another's experience. I don't want to be one of those people but it also seems insulting to me to shout "Yay! Autistic person writes a book! Five stars!" And I don't want to insult Pete Wharmby because he strikes me as a decent chap with an engaging, wryly funny writing style, as much right to earn an income as anyone else, and overall I wouldn't want to discourage people from reading it. Why shouldn't we capitalise on his abilities to communicate? My difficulties with the book may be that I have simply reached my present limit with the "zeal of the autism 'convert'" (ie recently adult diagnosed) I don't think I would have found the book quite so irritating where I did (and I did) had the book been titled differently. For me, it was not the book it says it is on the cover... and doesn't need to be. That's not where its value lies. He's vehement about the annoyances of 'we're all a bit on the spectrum' and 'we all experience that' and rightly so... but, like so many he generalises and stereotypes the 'neurotypical' experience (ie non-autistic) In seeking to encourage a change in the world, the book also looks at how people can be allies. Tips include being aware of masking, reserving judgement, and understanding that “communication differences can have drastic outcomes”.