*I have family visiting right now, and I didn’t have time to finish today’s Sunday Who Review post. I’ll get that up later this week, but for now, have this post I had on deck.*
On my recent deep dive into autism and ADHD, one of the people whose content I’ve found really helpful is YouTuber Yo Samdy Sam (a.k.a. Samantha Stein.) In fact, her video “5 Signs You Have Autism and ADHD” was a huge “oh!” moment for me. At the time, I’d gotten to the point where I really couldn’t ignore the possibility that I was autistic, but I was hesitant to take it any further because of little things that I felt didn’t add up. Meanwhile, I was seeing more ADHD content on my timeline, and while I definitely found some of it incredibly relatable, I was still mostly filing it under, “That’s weird, ‘cause it’s not like I have ADHD, right?” Cue Yo Samdy Sam’s video. As she went through the items on her list, showing ways that autism and ADHD can both look a little different in conjunction, I found myself repeatedly thinking, Yes, that! That’s the thing!
So, as I explored more of her videos and discovered that she’d published “A Workbook for the Confused Person Who’s Just Trying to Figure Things Out” (that’s the subtitle,) I decided to check it out. After doing more research and taking a few quizzes, it seemed like a good next step for me.
I really liked this workbook. In it, Stein breaks down the diagnostic criteria for autism in ways that cut through the clinical and pathologizing language of the DSM-5. Her explanations are clear and easy to understand, with examples outside the relatively narrow stereotype of how many people view autism. For instance, some people (like myself) might assume they don’t stim because they don’t rock or flap their hands; Stein points out that things like repetitively tapping your fingers or cracking your knuckles can count as stimming as well. Each of her explanations of the five criteria and their subcategories are accompanied by several prompts that allow the reader to reflect on their own experiences. There’s ample writing space to explore the questions and think of ways that these criteria might (or might not) apply to you. For instance, in the section on sensory processing, there’s a separate page for each sense and room for the reader to consider what sensory sensitivities or seeking behaviors they might have, and she offers a few examples of what that might look like for each sense. In the section on special interests, she cheerfully declares, “INFODUMP TIME!” and leaves a full two pages for the reader to write about the particular obsessions that bring them joy.
The sections on the diagnostic criteria make up a good chunk of the workbook, but Stein guides the reader through other topics as well. There are prompts about imposter syndrome, the ways people might mask their autistic traits (consciously or otherwise) to appear more neurotypical, and how the reader’s other identities—such as race, gender, or class—might affect their experience as an autistic person. She also offers space to weigh the pros and cons of seeking a formal diagnosis and think about how the reader may want to go about telling other people in their life, and there’s a resource list at the end of the book for further information.
The workbook strikes a good balance between explanation and personal exploration. I really like how well it’s organized, with clearly structured sections and helpful examples/clarifications. Beyond that, it’s also just pretty to look at, which is nice. I found it a super helpful guide for thinking about my life, my experiences, and my brain, and by the time I reached the end, I was feeling a lot more sure about things.
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