The Autism FAQ: Everything You Wanted to Know about Diagnosis & Autistic Life

by Joe Biel, Faith G. Harper

"What's it like to be autistic? As many as one in forty-five people live that reality every day, but our culture remains full of myths, stigma, and dangerous misunderstandings of this type of neurodiversity. This guide to life on the autism spectrum is a must-read for autistic adults, their friends, coworkers, partners, and parents-and for anyone who wants to understand the experiences of many people they meet every day. Joe Biel, who was diagnosed as an adult, writes about what it's like to be autistic, joined by the bestselling Dr. Faith G. Harper who speaks from her experience as a parent, friend, and therapist to autistic people. Their real talk and accessible language discusses a wide range of topics, including the diagnostic criteria for autism and how they play out in practice, what it means for autism to be a disability, and co-occurring conditions like depression and anxiety. They answer many frequently asked questions from neurotypicals, and offer some basic life and social skills that the world doesn't always think to explicitly teach autistic folks. Most of all, they affirm the many strengths of the autistic brain and point the way to a world where autism is just another way of being"--

Genres: Nonfiction, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Health, Mental Health, Psychology, Self Help

191 pages, Paperback

Published December 27, 2022

About the author

Joe Biel is a writer, activist, journalist, filmmaker, and publisher. He is the founder and co-owner of Microcosm Publishing and co-founder of the Portland Zine Symposium. He often tours the U.S. with his books and films. He has been featured in the Utne Reader, Portland Mercury, Oregonian, Broken Pencil, Readymade, and Bicycle Times.

Reviews

[Lampshade]

This was a DNF for me. I'm not going to post a negative star review, but I would still like to share my thoughts.

The main reason I couldn't continue reading this little book was that it felt like a guidance counselor from a sitcom trying to speak the hip lingo of the youth they are attempting to help. There were a few instances where I had to re-read the same sentence five times just to figure out what they were trying to say. I'm not even the type of person who takes everything literally, but I had trouble understanding this book because I'm 40 and don't understand the current vernacular of the kids on the internets, or whatever this book is trying to do. Are they trying to be snarky and cute? I don't know. I just found it incredibly jarring and annoying.

For example:

"Here is a statistics stats drop by Faith..." >> Seriously took me 5 tries to figure out they weren't talking about a drop in statistical data.

"Hard agree, whether someone is in the hospital or not." >> This book is not going to age well.

"...and all of your urgings to ragequit this game." >> This is a sentence referencing suicide. What the actual eff, guys? Why...? Why try make a sentence about suicide cool? WHY?

"It's far better to hear it from someone who digs you and isn't offended by how you roll, but also wants to help you..." >> Dig and roll in one sentence. And this is where I shut the book and returned it to the library.

I also think it would be helpful if there were different fonts for Joe and Faith. I found it confusing to keep up with who was currently writing.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book didn't solve any problems but it definitely brought some new understanding.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I started off really liking this but found it tedious once it got halfway through. I didn’t really enjoy the format of having two authors, especially because only one of them is autistic. I found Unmasking Autism a much more insightful and helpful book for learning about the infinite personalities of autistic people. This FAQ seemed to cater more towards people who are very similar to the author, Joe.

I also understand that both authors have written many short books about mental health, but I found it annoying that they were pushing 10 other publications written by them if you wanted to learn more about a specific topic. I wouldn’t recommend this book as your intro into autism just because it seemed to skim the surface and not all of the answers actually answered the FAQs with enough depth. Joe tried to be inclusive but it felt like the book was more about his singular experience. It seems like he would have benefitted more from writing a memoir than a FAQ guide. I also don’t think this book will age very well because of its vernacular. I’m only 30 and it already felt pretty dated reading it in the year when it was published.

[Rachael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some parts of this were informative. A lot of parts sounded like rants, which were not helpful and really just lost me. They're also very fond of the f-bomb. Occasionally, there's a bit of a difficulty in balancing "don't coddle" and "why aren't you being accommodating," although Joe in particular seems to understand how fine a line that is and sympathizes with NTs who don't have a clue how to handle life with a ND loved one. Unfortunately, there were a number of times where information on handling that could have been addressed and instead we got a rant or a sympathetic head pat. Granted, this is a FAQ book, not a Helpful Tips book, so that should probably be expected. I think I was looking more for a Helpful Tips book despite the title, so that's on me.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid introduction to autism, but at times it assumes people's social behavior is more black-and-white than it actually is.

[Stephanie Wilcox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very mixed feelings.. some informative stuff, but also some very questionable parts lol. 2.5 stars?

[Elliott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am baffled by the tone of this book. It's very bitter. The main author spends a great deal of time talking about his own negative experiences with NTs (neurotypicals) and making dry remarks (that may or may not be sarcastic) about how actually they're the ones who are disabled. I learned more about the author than I cared to, including how he's apparently running a successful publishing company that just so happened to publish this book. How wonderful for him. I wonder if a book like this could have seen the light of day otherwise.

As for the content itself, it's a mixed bag. The sections by Dr. Harper are the highlights, when she brings in actual research, and I did learn a few things. But some questions are not really answered. For example, are autistics more likely to be gender-nonconforming?. Rather than provide any sort of data, they just tell the reader to be who they want to be! And there's a strange attitude they seem to have that any negative effects of autism are entirely due to how autistics are treated. There is nothing inherently disabling about it, and "low needs" folks have just had less trauma to deal with than those with "high needs." It's a bizarre take, and they don't really provide any evidence to back it up.

Also, the numerous typos and use of strange words like "buddhasent" and "mathdammit" was distracting.

Surely there are better resources out there to learn about autism.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very relatable and useful tool that provided me a lot of the why behind the behaviors and thought patterns that are part of my Autism. The book was especially good because it was written in a friendly and humorous tone (while still feeling like it was written for adults) which was very useful when taking about subjects that have more emotional baggage like the high suicide rates among those of us who are autistic. I have about a dozen bookmarks to parts that I plan to go back to again because they really hit home.

[Michelle ☽⁺✧. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to the subject and easy to navigate in finding what questions you want asked. The only things keeping it from a higher rating for me is the jumping from one writer to another (I know logically this made more sense in being able to tell who was writing what, but it just made me feel confused and disoriented as it kept happening) and the overall tone of many parts feeling a bit whiplash-y in both tone and mood.

Overall, an informative read and already helped me to understand my neurodivergent brain a bit better than before.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, easy to read and understand book about Autism. How to communicate with allistics when you need to and how they can better communicate with us. Reading a book by an Autistic author is extremely refreshing. I highly recommend this slim volume that belies the information contained there in. I did several TikTok videos of in depth exploration of this book it piqued my interest so.

[Ree · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent introductory book into autism. But its focus was more on stereotypical presentations and experiences of autism. It would have been nice for it to have presented more non stereotypical experiences as well.

[Dani Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for people to read to help better understand autism but most importantly, neurotypical’s should read to give themselves a reality check towards their behavior with autists.

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welp. Time to get tested.

[Thea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like a conversation with mates

[Samara Matson wartes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well presented. Authors do a great job of intertwining personal experience and thought processes from different perspectives. Some of the language felt quite "grabby" and unnecessary, but overall a great read for many audiences.

[Booker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good info and anecdotes.

[kashiichan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a bit difficult to rate. I did manage to learn some new things through this book, however it's far from being an "FAQ" and it's definitely not a good book to start with if you don't already have a decent amount of base knowledge. I didn't really like the casual back-and-forth style between the two authors (only one of whom is autistic), and many concepts are glossed over in favour of recommending you pick up one of their "other books". It is a decent read, but its claim of being "everything you want to know about diagnosis and autistic life" just doesn't hold up.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

An insightful and informative read that explains complex information clearly and with good humor. I appreciate how the language used is accessible to the average person.