Untypical

The modern world was designed around neurotypical people, with its clamor of noise, glaring lights, chatter, phone calls, and countless unspoken expectations and unwritten rules. For many autistic people, that environment can feel like a hostile, nightmarish place to live.

Pete Wharmby describes what it is like to be different and how draining it is to squeeze yourself into a world that was never built with you in mind, and he does so with humor and warmth. The book is more than a personal account, though. Pete received his diagnosis late in life, after years of masking, the effort of hiding his traits to pass as neurotypical, so he is well placed to show how the two worlds might meet.

He sets out what each of us can do for the autistic people we meet at school, at work, and in our private lives. Written as a practical handbook for everyone, the book also serves as a rallying cry for readers who want an inclusive society and want to help bring it about.