Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

My Autistic Filter: An inside look at how one autistic person processes information

Rate this book
This book contains illustrations comparing how someone like me views the world vs a non-autistic person views the world, including how we view friendship, noises, sights, routine, time, and have issues with boundaries.
It takes a look through illustration at why people like me are overly sensitive to noise, or have issues paying attention, or respond negatively to touch, or get upset when a routine is disrupted.
I am in my 50s, so I am looking at this as an individual who has had many experiences and train wrecks. I have spent many years of self introspection, trying to understanding how my filtering system affects my ability to function and my relationship with my environment. In the last 1930s, Autism was first being diagnosed as a specific psychological process.
But up until the 1960s, it was accepted as a dimension of other psychological profiles.
Once it was understood as a unique neurological characteristic, studies branched out to understand exactly what it saw, because we really did not know.
What about it led individuals to have a broad range of “peculiar” and atypical methodologies in experience and expression?
How do these individuals acquisition knowledge and apply it to every day life?

This is my understanding of how I process information. I stress that it is mine, because I realize each autistic person is unique and may have very different processing outcomes.

44 pages, Paperback

Published October 29, 2019

3 people are currently reading
527 people want to read

About the author

Zarqnon The Embarrassed

44 books17 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
30 (49%)
4 stars
22 (36%)
3 stars
8 (13%)
2 stars
1 (1%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
Profile Image for Jeanie.
1,306 reviews1 follower
January 28, 2020
This detailed, first-person account of a middle-aged man with autism is very interesting and enlightening. Told without self-pity or anger, the account is organized in a clear, easy-to-understand manner that helps the person who does not have autism understand it better.

The author was not diagnosed until he was nearly 40, when his sons were being tested for it, and the diagnosis helped him with the challenges he has faced throughout his own life. Every person with autism is different with regards to neurological, mental and emotional responses; his account is specific to him. Other people face similar challenges to differing degrees.

How a person with autism learns definitely shows how much more challenging school – or any kind of lessons – are, and the fortitude one has to live with the disease. I have empathy for the challenges, especially knowing how I have had to adapt to short-term memory limits and processing noise for different reasons.

Overall, I knew little about autism before reading this account, and have learned some of the basics that would help understand others. I appreciate how the faith of the author impacts him, not only how he has gained it but the way he shares it. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves someone with autism or wants to understand it better for any reason. I believe that reading a first-person account is vital to understanding the human being with unique gifts and abilities.

From a thankful heart: I received a copy of this from the author through a Goodreads First contest, and this is my honest review.
682 reviews9 followers
January 31, 2020
MY AUTISTIC FILTER:AN INSIDE LOOK AT HOW ONE AUTISTIC PERSON PROCESSES INFORMATION BY ZARQNON THE EMBARRASSED. is a 42 page monolog, if you will , on how one autistic person sees the world. I have a bit of a vetted interest in this because our 34 year old son is getting tested to determine if his "ADHD" is really somewhere on the autistic spectrum .
This is NOT a medical person ,but a normal run of the mill man who has dealt with autism and what HE experiences in life. My hats off to Zarquon . He is telling the reader he is human,he functions, but his world is a whole lot different because of his autism and he wanted to let people know and to step into his shoes,at least for the forty plus pages of this book. My hats off to him!

I received this e book from goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
35 reviews1 follower
January 18, 2020
Easily understood for people workers.

Highly recommended. Author is married, 50 but discovered self as ASD, aged 40. Insights, explanations many crazy behaviors, compared to 'normals'. Wisely applicable to so many weirdos that I've met in my 70 years, community work, Australia.
Profile Image for Michele Harrison.
31 reviews5 followers
December 25, 2019
I received this book as a surprise addition to a different Goodreads win. It is a short (44 page) analysis of the differences between living with autism versus living without it, told entirely from the point of view of the author - who happens to be on the autism spectrum. As the author points out, every person who has a form of autism experiences the world differently and their idiosyncrasies may vary greatly from those pointed out in the book. The illustrations are simple and fun and the book itself is quick and informative about how one person can see the world around them in a much different way.
Profile Image for Pao Vilchis.
421 reviews10 followers
May 25, 2020
I requested this book not knowing what is was getting myself into, I thought this was going to be a 200 page book about autism from the medical perspective or I don’t know. I just wasn’t expecting this. I finished the book and although it wasn’t what I thought I was going to get I was extremely happy that is requested the book. I adored it.

In this book we basically get a comparison between how a non-autistic person views the world and receives information vs how an autistic person receives it. The author is a 50 years old man who was diagnosed with autism when he was is his 40´s.

Like is said, this book was everything I didn’t know I was looking for. This book is short, it is more like a pamphlet of the basic things you need to know about autism, it is short and simply to understand and it will eventually make you smile. I adored this book and I think everyone should read it, it is to the point (it won’t take you more than 1 hour to read it) and it has the basic information we must all know in order to have empathy towards those who are different from us.

The two things I like the most about the book are: 1) there is no self-pity or anger towards the reader, the author just wants to show us how he sees the world, he is not trying to say which is better, he just says “you think this way and I think this way and it is okay that it is different”. The author just wants to educate us, he wants us to make us see things from his point of view so that we can have empathy towards those who are different from us. 2) The ending. The ending was by far my favorite part of the book. The way the author apologizes and asks for patience from all of us broke me. He is trying to tell us, I am here, I am human I am different but I still function and I am just as valuable.

I immensely appreciated this book and if you have time please try to read it because I think this is an essential read.

Thank you to the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Kelly Knapp.
945 reviews20 followers
December 25, 2019
This book has made me question whether or not some people find a way out of autism, maybe with puberty or such. I wonder because this is how I felt and responded as a child. With few or no filters, often repeating what I heard, even just after being told it was a secret. I felt lost in school, like I had all of this information in a jumble, all the way through 5th grade and then in 6th and 7th, things started to connect, in blotches before linear connections. It felt as if a door was opened and everything has a place and purpose undetectable before. And some words still appear with colors attached and a few even have tastes. This books states much of what I felt.
Profile Image for Lori King.
13 reviews69 followers
December 21, 2019
I won this as a kindle Goodreads giveaway. I could not read it on my kindle, stated it was incompatible. I had to read it on my phone through the kindle app, it is more of a document, I had to read it sideways for the print to be large enough to read. The content was interesting and gave me a new perspective on understanding interacting with autistic persons. A reminder on allowing an overwhelmed person to regroup on their own was helpful. However, I do not believe this should be offered as a kindle book.
Profile Image for Pollies.
111 reviews7 followers
December 23, 2021
Short but helpful!

This was only 40ish pages but really helped me consider how my newly diagnosed autistic son might see the world and is not always trying to defy me (previous diagnosed with ODD) but rather, has ASD (autism spectrum disorder) and cant help it. Highly recommend if you have received a diagnosis and feel overwhelmed by the internet and are struggling to find where to start. I will be coming back to this book again when I need a refresher.
Profile Image for Liz Campbell.
109 reviews12 followers
December 23, 2019
Won this as a goodreads giveaway. It's more of a long pamphlet than an actual book and didnt result give me any insights into autism that i didn't already have. I guess if you knew nothing about autistic people this might be helpful to you.
Profile Image for Edward Dwyer.
35 reviews1 follower
December 31, 2019
I know/have known 2-3 autistic people in my life, 1-2 through my wife (she thinks I'm on the spectrum as well for some reason), so I wanted a little more insight. I understand a bit more now. Thanks. And it was a short read.
129 reviews
June 6, 2021
Won this book through goodreads. Very interesting book on autism. May only be one person's perspective on this subject, but it is from his experience. Thank you for giving us this insight to the subject.
1 review
September 4, 2021
I have found this book very insightful .this book should be. made available in all schools and health clinics

I would highly recommend it. I came access it quite by accident and I am very glad I read it.
Profile Image for Barbara Beebe.
134 reviews1 follower
March 11, 2025
Trying to understand

I have a family member whose actions are baffling. I don't know if they are on the spectrum, but I thought this was a good look into the mind of someone who is.
8 reviews
February 23, 2020
Simple to read.

A very short version of ones thoughts. The book was enjoyable and to the point. Thanks for your version .
Profile Image for Carol.
740 reviews13 followers
December 25, 2019
Won as a GoodReads giveaway. I couldn't read it on my Kindle Paperwhite but was able to open it in my phone's Kindle app. It's very short but provides some good insight from an autistic person's view on how they process information.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.