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We See Things They’ll Never See: Love, Hope, and Neurodiversity
How neurotypical hegemony reproduces a culture of exclusion—and how to overcome this with love, hope, and solidarity
Ableism is embedded in our daily lives. Social life, education, work, and, especially, mental health have been organized around rigid ideas of the “ideal” and the “normal” citizen—ideas that always exclude neurodiversity. In this pathbreaking book, Chantelle Jessica Lewis and Jason Arday argue that the neurodiversity movement offers ways to mobilize against not only ableism but also other “isms” including racism and capitalism. By focusing on the prevalence of neurotypical dominance and power—or “neurotypical hegemony”—Lewis and Arday show the ways that neurotypical dominance has often been used to justify and normalize some of our more harmful cultures around productivity and value.
Throughout the book, Lewis and Arday use theories of Blackness, feminism, class, and neurodivergence to offer a vision of solidarities across differences. They show that race, class, ethnicity, gender, and nation are just some of the social structures for which the politics of neurodiversity can produce an emancipatory analysis. This is a book about applying social theory in practice, taking seriously how academic research and theory can be used outside of academic spaces. With We See Things They’ll Never See, Lewis and Arday issue a call to action—and a call for understanding, acceptance, and humility.
Ableism is embedded in our daily lives. Social life, education, work, and, especially, mental health have been organized around rigid ideas of the “ideal” and the “normal” citizen—ideas that always exclude neurodiversity. In this pathbreaking book, Chantelle Jessica Lewis and Jason Arday argue that the neurodiversity movement offers ways to mobilize against not only ableism but also other “isms” including racism and capitalism. By focusing on the prevalence of neurotypical dominance and power—or “neurotypical hegemony”—Lewis and Arday show the ways that neurotypical dominance has often been used to justify and normalize some of our more harmful cultures around productivity and value.
Throughout the book, Lewis and Arday use theories of Blackness, feminism, class, and neurodivergence to offer a vision of solidarities across differences. They show that race, class, ethnicity, gender, and nation are just some of the social structures for which the politics of neurodiversity can produce an emancipatory analysis. This is a book about applying social theory in practice, taking seriously how academic research and theory can be used outside of academic spaces. With We See Things They’ll Never See, Lewis and Arday issue a call to action—and a call for understanding, acceptance, and humility.
264 pages, Hardcover
Published September 16, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 12, 2025
Amazing Concept, Challenging Execution
With over two decades of experience in the disability community and as a parent to two children with autism, I was incredibly excited to read "We See Things They’ll Never See: Love, Hope, and Neurodiversity." Unfortunately, the book's highly academic style made it a difficult read for me personally.
While the subject matter is deeply relevant, the presentation felt less like a commercially published non-fiction book and more like an academic thesis. I found the introductory material disproportionately long—at 45% through, the authors were still focused on their methodology, the book's intended impact, audience appeal, and its position within academia. The frequent use of academic terminology (like "hegemony" and "praxis") further contributed to a dense reading experience.
Ultimately, I was frustrated by the sense that the authors spent more time talking around their core points, explaining why they were writing the book, rather than simply presenting the essential insights. This may be the perfect style for an academic audience, but it did not work for me as a general reader interested in the topic.
This is, undoubtedly, a perfect book for some; just know what you are getting before you dive in.
With over two decades of experience in the disability community and as a parent to two children with autism, I was incredibly excited to read "We See Things They’ll Never See: Love, Hope, and Neurodiversity." Unfortunately, the book's highly academic style made it a difficult read for me personally.
While the subject matter is deeply relevant, the presentation felt less like a commercially published non-fiction book and more like an academic thesis. I found the introductory material disproportionately long—at 45% through, the authors were still focused on their methodology, the book's intended impact, audience appeal, and its position within academia. The frequent use of academic terminology (like "hegemony" and "praxis") further contributed to a dense reading experience.
Ultimately, I was frustrated by the sense that the authors spent more time talking around their core points, explaining why they were writing the book, rather than simply presenting the essential insights. This may be the perfect style for an academic audience, but it did not work for me as a general reader interested in the topic.
This is, undoubtedly, a perfect book for some; just know what you are getting before you dive in.
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December 17, 2025Whilst I think this is useful and information everyone should know, I unfortunately learnt nothing I didn’t already know as someone who has read quite a few non-fiction books about neurodivergence as well as intersections.
I dnf’ed at 80%.
However, this was accessible, touched on how neurodivergence is stigmatised and the world more difficult to navigate, and focused on how race makes this even harder.
The book clearly lays out its approach, even if I did find it obvious and repetitive, especially as this information is basic.
Audiobook arc gifted by publisher.
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I dnf’ed at 80%.
However, this was accessible, touched on how neurodivergence is stigmatised and the world more difficult to navigate, and focused on how race makes this even harder.
The book clearly lays out its approach, even if I did find it obvious and repetitive, especially as this information is basic.
Audiobook arc gifted by publisher.
Bookstagram
Tiktok
November 22, 2025
We See Things They'll Never See: Love, Hope, & Neurodiversity is an academic text by academics who actually acknowledge and attend to the fact that they are academics. What I mean by this, is that the language they use is actually defined for a wider audience, they acknowledge when there is a strange juxtaposition between their positions in academia and their criticisms, and generally attempt a self aware approach to the topics discussed. This is one of the strengths of the book and is something I find slightly more common in disability based academia. I cannot count how many books I have read that never define neoliberalism or hegemony- even if they aren't solely written for academics. Chantelle Jessica Lewis and Jason Arday do well to imagine an audience wider than academic or well read activist circles reading this book. This is not to say that it is an easy read or lacking jargon, but it is definitely easiER.
Can we talk real quick about how great this cover design by Heather Hansen is? You should definitely judge this book by this cover because it is gorgeous.
Both authors are in the UK, but with the exception of a few details here and there, the book has plenty that applies to the USA and I am sure other areas of the world if not all in some way. The general argument is that various forms of hierarchy need be challenged and dismantled in order to support a neurodiverse populace, all of which will also benefit people who may not currently fall into the neurodiverse and related labels.
The authors discuss their process for writing the book at length. At first I welcomed this, as the style is unconventional for the field. They include themselves as subjects in the book rather than only writers making statements about the rest of the world. That said, it got to the point multiple times where this was repetitive and took up far to much space before getting to the good stuff. Or an important point would be cut short to return to the authors interactions while writing again. At one point they discuss using speech-to-text to help write and this made a lot of sense to me. When my hands betray me, I use it, and it always needs to be heavily edited down afterward. This book could have used said editing here and there.
That said, once they got to the meat of the book, I found it interesting and at times refreshing in ways it shouldn't have to be. The authors' use of neurodiversity in this book is mostly in reference to autism, but it does not exclude other groups like some writings regrettably do. Calling someone with, say, schizophrenia "neurotypical" because they are not autistic is pretty ridiculous in my opinion, but I digress. The authors also discuss several topics that are highly neglected in disability discourse, often by the more privileged demographics (middle class+ white folks with low support needs for instance.) One of these is service/care workers. There is often discussion of a social model where care is a given and support is around every corner without confronting who currently offers that support. They discuss who is often doing this labor- poor folks, bipoc folks, undocumented folks, etc or unsupported family. I would add to this that many care workers are disabled or chronically ill themselves and pushing through it to survive while offering care to others for meager income. I appreciated this discussion greatly.
The authors also discuss the problems with meritocracy- something embedded so far in the center left that some of the main reasons given in our current horrorshow of a country that people shouldn't be kidnapped and sent to concentration camps is that they contribute in very specific ways or have specific traits valuable to capitalism. Lewis and Arday discuss the value of people outside of this and how this framework does extensive harm to movements of liberation. They also include solidarity with aging populations- another thing I do not see mentioned enough in accessibility discourse. The vast majority of people will not lead a full life without disability. The amount of access needs humans have often increase with age, so it should be a given that aging folks are automatically part of the discussion. Yet, I sometimes see it as only a footnote if it is discussed at all.
They wrap of the book with a set of recommendations for a more supportive neurodiverse society. Many of the suggestions are apt, but I wish more time had been spent discussing them. I think if we could cut out a big chunk of the repetitive stuff about the authors' writing process and fill that space with more of their thoughts on the solutions at the end, the text would be stronger.
Overall though, I found this discussion of neurodiversity to be important and helpful. It is one of the more inclusive things I have read regarding accessibility at large and I appreciate that the authors found a way to write it together that served both them and their audience.
This was also posted to my storygraph and blog.
Can we talk real quick about how great this cover design by Heather Hansen is? You should definitely judge this book by this cover because it is gorgeous.
Both authors are in the UK, but with the exception of a few details here and there, the book has plenty that applies to the USA and I am sure other areas of the world if not all in some way. The general argument is that various forms of hierarchy need be challenged and dismantled in order to support a neurodiverse populace, all of which will also benefit people who may not currently fall into the neurodiverse and related labels.
The authors discuss their process for writing the book at length. At first I welcomed this, as the style is unconventional for the field. They include themselves as subjects in the book rather than only writers making statements about the rest of the world. That said, it got to the point multiple times where this was repetitive and took up far to much space before getting to the good stuff. Or an important point would be cut short to return to the authors interactions while writing again. At one point they discuss using speech-to-text to help write and this made a lot of sense to me. When my hands betray me, I use it, and it always needs to be heavily edited down afterward. This book could have used said editing here and there.
That said, once they got to the meat of the book, I found it interesting and at times refreshing in ways it shouldn't have to be. The authors' use of neurodiversity in this book is mostly in reference to autism, but it does not exclude other groups like some writings regrettably do. Calling someone with, say, schizophrenia "neurotypical" because they are not autistic is pretty ridiculous in my opinion, but I digress. The authors also discuss several topics that are highly neglected in disability discourse, often by the more privileged demographics (middle class+ white folks with low support needs for instance.) One of these is service/care workers. There is often discussion of a social model where care is a given and support is around every corner without confronting who currently offers that support. They discuss who is often doing this labor- poor folks, bipoc folks, undocumented folks, etc or unsupported family. I would add to this that many care workers are disabled or chronically ill themselves and pushing through it to survive while offering care to others for meager income. I appreciated this discussion greatly.
The authors also discuss the problems with meritocracy- something embedded so far in the center left that some of the main reasons given in our current horrorshow of a country that people shouldn't be kidnapped and sent to concentration camps is that they contribute in very specific ways or have specific traits valuable to capitalism. Lewis and Arday discuss the value of people outside of this and how this framework does extensive harm to movements of liberation. They also include solidarity with aging populations- another thing I do not see mentioned enough in accessibility discourse. The vast majority of people will not lead a full life without disability. The amount of access needs humans have often increase with age, so it should be a given that aging folks are automatically part of the discussion. Yet, I sometimes see it as only a footnote if it is discussed at all.
They wrap of the book with a set of recommendations for a more supportive neurodiverse society. Many of the suggestions are apt, but I wish more time had been spent discussing them. I think if we could cut out a big chunk of the repetitive stuff about the authors' writing process and fill that space with more of their thoughts on the solutions at the end, the text would be stronger.
Overall though, I found this discussion of neurodiversity to be important and helpful. It is one of the more inclusive things I have read regarding accessibility at large and I appreciate that the authors found a way to write it together that served both them and their audience.
This was also posted to my storygraph and blog.
December 14, 2025
I wavered between 3.5 stars and 4 stars for this, and settled on rounding up because I'm ultimately glad I read it, and it's given me lots to think about.
The authors - confessed academics - state their intention to introduce academic language to a general audience, which is to say the book is written in technical language but with thorough definition for those unfamiliar with the academic concepts, and I think they did a reasonable job of this. The focus on the intersections of race and neurodiversity from a sociological lens places this book in a reasonably unexplored but important nonfiction niche. I greatly appreciated the discussion around livability, education and the inadequacy of neoliberal 'inclusion' approaches that seek to fold neurodivergent people into neurotypical society rather than dismantling the neurotypical hegemony that is ultimately the source of their structural marginalisation.
Chapters opened with song quotes and a brief explanation of how the song was connected to the content of the chapter. In isolation, this did nothing for me; they didn't add to my learning or introduce a new perspective, and I would not have lost anything is they hadn't been included. But overall, I appreciate their inclusion in the book as a demonstration of neurodivergent ways of thinking and as an example of how normative expectations of everything, including book structures, can be influence by neurotypical hegemony and can therefore be a site of expansion beyond and abolition of the 'normal.'
My main complaint about the book is how much they talk about talking about the topic. The first ~35% was particularly egregious for this (it was a massive slog to get through and I honestly would have put it down if I wasn't planning to review it) but it was an issue throughout. At times I wanted to yell "stop telling me what the book is about and just get on with the actual substance!!"
I received a free copy of the audiobook from NetGalley in return for an honest review. The narrator has an American accent which was frankly kind of weird while listening to critiques of British social structures, but it was fine.
The authors - confessed academics - state their intention to introduce academic language to a general audience, which is to say the book is written in technical language but with thorough definition for those unfamiliar with the academic concepts, and I think they did a reasonable job of this. The focus on the intersections of race and neurodiversity from a sociological lens places this book in a reasonably unexplored but important nonfiction niche. I greatly appreciated the discussion around livability, education and the inadequacy of neoliberal 'inclusion' approaches that seek to fold neurodivergent people into neurotypical society rather than dismantling the neurotypical hegemony that is ultimately the source of their structural marginalisation.
Chapters opened with song quotes and a brief explanation of how the song was connected to the content of the chapter. In isolation, this did nothing for me; they didn't add to my learning or introduce a new perspective, and I would not have lost anything is they hadn't been included. But overall, I appreciate their inclusion in the book as a demonstration of neurodivergent ways of thinking and as an example of how normative expectations of everything, including book structures, can be influence by neurotypical hegemony and can therefore be a site of expansion beyond and abolition of the 'normal.'
My main complaint about the book is how much they talk about talking about the topic. The first ~35% was particularly egregious for this (it was a massive slog to get through and I honestly would have put it down if I wasn't planning to review it) but it was an issue throughout. At times I wanted to yell "stop telling me what the book is about and just get on with the actual substance!!"
I received a free copy of the audiobook from NetGalley in return for an honest review. The narrator has an American accent which was frankly kind of weird while listening to critiques of British social structures, but it was fine.
December 14, 2025
This was an incredibly eye-opening and impactful read. I loved both the content and how accessible the writing was — it’s educational without ever feeling dense or academic, which made it easy to stay fully engaged throughout.
The research behind this book is clearly extensive, but what really stood out to me was how thoughtfully it was structured and laid out. Each chapter builds on the last in a way that feels intentional and clear, allowing complex ideas to be explored without overwhelming the reader.
I listened to the audiobook and it was fantastic. The narration added so much to the experience and made the material feel even more immediate and powerful. I also really appreciated the inclusion of song lyric snippets throughout the book — they tied beautifully into the themes of each chapter and gave the reading experience an added emotional layer.
This book challenged me, informed me, and opened my eyes in ways I wasn’t fully expecting. I’ve already found myself recommending it to friends ahead of its release, which says a lot. An essential and thoughtfully crafted read that stays with you long after you finish it.
The research behind this book is clearly extensive, but what really stood out to me was how thoughtfully it was structured and laid out. Each chapter builds on the last in a way that feels intentional and clear, allowing complex ideas to be explored without overwhelming the reader.
I listened to the audiobook and it was fantastic. The narration added so much to the experience and made the material feel even more immediate and powerful. I also really appreciated the inclusion of song lyric snippets throughout the book — they tied beautifully into the themes of each chapter and gave the reading experience an added emotional layer.
This book challenged me, informed me, and opened my eyes in ways I wasn’t fully expecting. I’ve already found myself recommending it to friends ahead of its release, which says a lot. An essential and thoughtfully crafted read that stays with you long after you finish it.
December 14, 2025
We See Things They'll Never See definitely reads as more of an academic text than I was anticipating. The authors spent the better portion of the first half of the book outlining their methodology and rationale, which I fear will end up creating a disconnect with a lot of readers. The actually substance was densely written.
Overall, it was an interesting read and I appreciated the additional insights into the evolution of neurodiversity as it relates to accessibility and awareness. I don't think I would recommend this to my friends, unless they had a specific academic interest.
The audio version of We See Things They'll Never See will be published 12/16/2025 and I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for my review.
Overall, it was an interesting read and I appreciated the additional insights into the evolution of neurodiversity as it relates to accessibility and awareness. I don't think I would recommend this to my friends, unless they had a specific academic interest.
The audio version of We See Things They'll Never See will be published 12/16/2025 and I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for my review.
December 27, 2025
I was very excited to read We See Things They'll Never See: Love, Hope, and Neurodiversity; the premise sounded fascinating. However, I don't feel it was executed very well. The writing felt extremely academic and inaccessible. It read more like an academic paper than a nonfiction book. The writing was very dry and made an interesting topic feel very boring. There was hardly any meat; it felt like they spent more time talking about the process of writing the book than they did covering the actual material of the book. The narrators weren't bad, but I didn't find them great either. It was like listening to a lecture from a professor in class. I didn't find them persuasive or compelling.
December 21, 2025
Although it would be helpful to have a base-level understanding of Disability Justice, social justice, and neurodiversity, this book would be great for anyone wanting to expand and reimagine their understanding of neurodiversity and how neurodivergent people affect society. The language is relatively academic but not pedantic - it felt accessible. This book helped me rethink how I approach some of my work and relationships and I can't wait to share this book with others!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews