WHERE TO GET THE BOOK: http://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=F6B31A8DAFD6BD39A5986833E66293E6
PRIOR THREADS:
- Introduction
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Catch-up/Revival
- Chapter Four attempt one and Do-Over
In this chapter, Dr. Price discusses various ways of reframing and rethinking autism. Once the decision has been made to unmask, there comes the issue of what exactly that looks like. To even begin the work of rebuilding an identity that celebrates autism rather than hiding it as a source of shame, you must first reframe the way you perceive autism.
Step one is of course recognizing you’re autistic and then discovering what that means. Step two is re-examining painful labels that are enforced by a society 
that devalues neurodivergent behaviors, stims, and ways of thinking. Recognizing that you are not cringe, you just been touched by the 'tism. Dr. Price provides a number of charts and exercises that help the reader reframe autistic tendencies as things that have value in and of themselves and that are a core part of an autistic person’s identity. Reducing self-stigma is a key part of the process of reclaiming your identity. Regarding your “deficient” social graces as having some advantages – being principled, being passionate, etc. – can rebuild some of that eroded self-esteem that came from years of rejection and correction by people who insisted you conform to an arbitrary set of behaviors determined by random chance and trend over centuries of cultural construction.
He goes over ways to think about how your autistic traits have actually improved your life and helped define who you are. If I hadn’t been an obsessive reader since the time I was a toddler I probably wouldn’t be so good at writing. If I hadn’t been obsessed with video games my entire life I’d probably not be so good at constructing fictional worlds and characters and dialogue. If I wasn’t so focused on making people laugh as a defense mechanism and way to endear myself to them out of a desperation for someone, anyone, to accept and like me, I probably wouldn’t be so goddamn funny 
Celebrating special interests comes up. I love bugs, for instance, and got a lot of enthusiasm in the responses for my late-night bugposting when I was deep in the pits of depression. My new girlfriend shares my passion for cheesy romances between humans and nonhumans. Dr. Price tells the story of Clara, who was obsessed with Pete Burns. When she went to college she shelved that interest to be “normal” and it depressed her so much that she had to move back home. Once she was surrounded by her Pete Burns shit and Pete Burnsing it up with her online friends again the depression disappeared like a bad dream. The lesson is: embrace your special interests and draw life from them. Also, you can have more than one. In fact it’s pretty common for ASD folks to go super hard on a few things to varying degrees over our lives. Just roll with it. Enjoy yourself. You’re not a weirdo if you collect baseball cards, but somehow if the pieces of cardboard have pictures of Yu-Gi-Oh! on them you’re a cringe failure (which you know is impossible since you have the Heart of the Cards). Fuck the haters.
Plunging these special interests can help you develop the key values identified in earlier chapters (remember that shit? I didn’t lmao) to help you find key moments that illustrate these things in action. Dr. Price gives the example of confronting a drunken asshole trying to force himself on a young woman and getting between the two of them until the girl could get away. A frightening moment but one that showed his commitment to justice and protecting people who need help.
The chapter closes out with Dr. Price talking about the concept of having gratitude for your past self for doing what you needed to do in order to survive and protect yourself from a harsh world that usually misunderstood you. Those years weren’t wasted. You did the best you could. You’re uniquely you and through it all have remained as such and just need to re-awaken the parts you’ve hidden out of shame.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- Any passages that stuck out to you? Things you need explained? Things you want to expand upon?
- Any certified he literally me fr moments?
- If you’d care to share any of your values or moments or special interests or whatnot below and how they’ve given your life value, please do. Tell us about your pokeymans
As usual, tag post to follow in comment. 
I fucking love video games. I love examining how their worlds and stories are put together, and my favorite ones are ones with layers upon layers like Prey or Dishonored or Morrowind. Worlds to explore and get lost in and escape into, and seeing how the simple method of layering historical periods atop one another makes a world feel so much more alive, how little touches like a personalized workspace or guards having a conversation can make things more memorable and flavorful, how to breathe life into a fully artificial thing. I’ve thoroughly explored Talos Station in Prey and know it like the back of my hand, and still find new secrets every time I play. The thing that draws me to a game the most is the feel, the flavor, the aesthetic. It’s carried me through a lot of otherwise mediocre games I probably wouldn’t have touched otherwise. I wish I had more people to discuss them with in depth, honestly, but
types are often not cool on the politics front, or else people say things like "I like Fallout 
" but have nothing more to say on it
Man I was considering getting Prey while it was on sale because I am so infatuated with the Metroidvania style world building where everything interconnects, especially in a 3D space because it’s a hot topic of debate in the community. I ended up getting Mass Effect trilogy because it was too hard to pass up a favorite series for $6 rofl. Now I can’t even get ME to run…
How hard is Prey, really? I get mixed opinions from gamers and “G*merz”. I don’t mind like a bit of challenge and know it comes with the territory of games like that but also don’t want a walking sim(though I like walking sims too lol). I ask because I am super interested in how they built the world for that game. Another example of an MV in 3D is Supraland. Idk if you played it but I really like that moment where you come out the other side and are like “huh, I’m back here… cool.” lol.
But yeah I love games. I have a rom collection of something like 5000 titles but also a huge Steam library. I’d guess around 500 games. World design, gameplay loop, and even that nonsense fanfair that Vampire Survivors did at the end of a round all fascinate me. If I wasn’t so shit at programming, I’d probably wanna get into game dev.
It’s definitely worth it to get both the base game and the Mooncrash DLC on sale, though pirating is preferable since Bethesda killed Arkane’s Texas office after forcing them to make a shitty multiplayer looter shooter.
I strongly recommend installing the Interface Customizer mod and the Core Balance mod to make some tweaks to the experience, getting rid of the irritating obtrusive quest notifications, turning off the floating enemy awareness markers, and making some slight adjustments to game balance to get rid off some rough spots.
I ended up refunding Mass Effect because I couldn’t get it running on Linux because their stupid launcher breaks most of their games on Linux. I used that money to get the just the base game of Prey. I may look into mods but again, on Linux and it can be a bit of a chore to get some stuff working like that.