*Special thanks to NetGallery and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for the eARC of this book*

TW: Mentions of transphobia, homophobia, gender dysphoria

(Note: This review is from a queer, disabled, non-binary person)

This book was a little delight to open, read, and experience. I loved the author's very clear voice and style that felt very conversational, which is great for avoiding the stale ted-talk like styles these books can often end up having. The illustrations were amazing. I loved them, all the differing presenting people. The style is cool and fresh and unique.

I do have one VERY big critique, but as important and necessary this critique is, I don't want it to seem like the rest of the book wasn't amazing.

As mentioned before I myself and disabled, and so when the author goes into the section "Avoid self-diagnosis online" my fur got rubbed the wrong way. This section is incredibly tone-deaf to the classism and ableism that act as gatekeepers to the neurodivergent community (gatekeeping being something the author even brings up earlier in the book).

Often neurodivergent people cannot afford to be formally diagnosed, or have family who keep them from being able to reach out to the proper doctors or channels to find out this information about themselves. Many in the neurodivergent community support and encourage self-diagnosis (never self-medication) as a great stepping point in a person understanding themselves and learning to love themselves and find support and structures to help them function until they can get a formal diagnosis. 

Then there is the problem that so many trained professionals know little to nothing of CURRENT care and research on neurodivergence, and many often have incredibly outdated schools of thought that haven't been updated since many attended school 20-odd years before. Example of myself: I self-diagnosed myself as autistc ADHD, went to a general psychiatrist, who dismissed me, told me I was only being "emotional", wanted to prescribe me the wrong medication, and emotionally abused me. When I was lucky enough (and $1000.00 dollars richer enough) to go to a DR specializing in current research on ADHD and Autism, he diagnosed me right away as a classic case. Before this 'official' diagnosis however, my life had improved dramatically since I had read up and taught myself strategies to function that I learned online about ADHD and autism from advocates online. Self-diagnosis can be life-saving.

I'm not saying being professionally diagnosed is wrong, but I'm saying it is an incredibly gray area, and this section paints the picture of "Don't think you have X condition, only wait for a professional to diagnose you and they are always correct". I know this is not what the author is intending. They are trying to say "Don't just do a quiz and invest no other effort", but the message comes across ableist, classist, and wrong. Encourage professional diagnosis, yes, but also include they can get second opinions, find DRs who specialize in those areas, and until they can afford to be seen, work with strategies that can help in the area they think they fall into.