Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity

Devon Price examines the phenomenon of social masking, a survival strategy where autistic individuals suppress their natural behaviors to mimic neurotypical standards. The book details how this constant performance leads to physical exhaustion, identity loss, and mental health crises, particularly for women, people of color, and queer individuals who are frequently overlooked by traditional diagnostic criteria. Price utilizes a framework of unmasking that involves identifying personal values, dismantling internalized ableism, and redesigning one’s sensory environment. By analyzing the intersection of neurodivergence and systemic oppression, the text provides structured exercises for sensory regulation and social boundary setting to replace forced conformity with authentic expression.

This book serves adults who suspect they are autistic or were diagnosed late in life. These readers seek practical methods to stop performing for others and want to understand why they feel alienated despite professional success. Readers finish the book with a concrete plan to accommodate their own sensory needs and communicate their boundaries to friends and employers. They gain a vocabulary for their internal experiences and a strategy for building lives based on actual capacity rather than social expectations.