Like many people with autism and/or ADHD, TikToker Ellie Middleton thought she was broken until she was diagnosed at 24. She wasn’t a bad person, she was neurodivergent. The diagnoses felt like a lightbulb being switched on and allowed her to finally begin healing from the trauma of being undiagnosed and misunderstood for so long. Unmasked: The Ultimate Guide to ADHD, Autism and Neurodivergence was born out of Middleton’s desire to change the way we think about autism, ADHD, and neurodivergence overall. She shares what she has learned along her journey through bite-sized paragraphs, with chapters on mental health, pretty privilege, navigating the workplace, and the importance of self-diagnosis so that we can all better understand and celebrate neurodivergence, and ultimately make the world a more inclusive place.
After being told I was likely autistic and had ADHD by my mental health team, I was determined to learn even more about these conditions and whether they did, in fact, apply to me. TikTok was a captivating place for this, but it of course makes light of the conditions and the behaviours we may associate with them. A book like Unmasked felt perfect in order to not only understand the basics of neurodivergence, but to read real-life examples of how the symptoms actually manifest in real life. Unfortunately, Middleton’s book was beyond disappointing.
The chapters are incredibly repetitive, bookended by “here’s what this chapter will cover” and “here’s a recap.” This feels completely ridiculous because the chapters are already short with bite-sized paragraphs anyway. It reads like a patronising textbook. If the chapters were longer and denser, then a recap might have been useful. The content of the book covers fairly surface-based information regarding autism and ADHD, information I imagine most people with autism and ADHD already know. The chapter on Translating Traits was the most useful, explaining what the traits really mean and what they could look like. I wish there was more of this because, to me, it’s the most helpful information to read about.
Aside from the repetitiveness, something else that hindered the book massively was its drive for inclusivity. Middleton wrote “women and people of marginalised genders” a lot, which is odd phrasing. It makes it sound like women are not also a people of marginalised gender. I might be nit-picking here, but this kind of language really does not work for me. The obsession with inclusivity and identity politics can be a hindrance, though Middleton did dedicate a section to late diagnosis because of being a girl, and then explains “other marginalised people” and “multiply-marginalised people.” So yes, the aforementioned phrasing is just clumsy.
There is a chapter on “ableism and pretty privilege” which comes across as pretty silly. Seeing people earnestly talk about pretty privilege in relation to autism/ADHD makes me feel insane. I can see how problems arise from this, but there are more serious things to discuss than this. It felt like a filler chapter and, honestly, from this point on, the book becomes very boring and quite a drag to read. Middleton also says that neurotypical actors playing autistic characters “feels a lot like appropriation to me.” This is, quite frankly, such childish politics that I thought we’d left behind in 2020. It’s not even correct use of the word appropriation.
Much of the book feels like Middleton was scared of being attacked for leaving out certain identities or ideas. I have seen plenty of reviews complaining that she doesn’t appreciate or acknowledge her privilege in a being a “white cis woman,” but she does actually. A few times. It’s clear that nothing will be good enough for these people. By catering to them, you gain social status, but also risk the quality of your work. It’s clear that Middleton is a nice person and wants to do right by what she has been taught in our current cultural and sociopolitical climate.
After reading Unmasked, I’m not entirely sure who this book is aimed at. But it’s definitely not me. If I had to guess, I would say it’s aimed at chronically online TikTokers who love to label themselves and everyone else and make sure everyone is being as morally and as politically correct as possible. In all seriousness, Unmasked is better suited to neurotypical people who want to learn more about neurodivergence and be good allys. There is a good information in here but I think Middleton’s editors could’ve pulled a much better book out of her. She clearly wants to help people to not suffer as much as she has with her neurodivergence and I commend her to that, but this book sucked.
Leave a Reply