Taking Off the Mask, Hannah Louise Belcher
Taking Off the Mask, Hannah Louise Belcher
List: $31.99 | Sale: $21.76
Club: $15.99

Taking Off the Mask
Practical Exercises to Help Understand and Minimise the Effects of Autistic Camouflaging

Author: Hannah Louise Belcher

Narrator: Heather Long

Unabridged: 3 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: John Murray

Published: 01/23/2025


Synopsis

'I realised I had been camouflaging my whole life - I'd been trying to mask my autistic traits and fit in with all the non-autistic people around me.'

Growing up autistic can often feel as though you have to become a chameleon in social situations, camouflaging yourself to fit in with a seemingly neurotypical world. Combining lived experience with scientific research and practical advice, this book is the essential guide to understanding why you mask and how to feel confident without one.

Focusing on diagnostic devices like the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q) to discover the situations in which you mask the most and why, alongside a range of techniques, from CBT, compassion based therapy, DBT, and mindfulness to relieve anxiety and reduce stress, this guide gives you all the tools and confidence you need to re-connect with yourself, the things you love and finally, take off your mask.

About Hannah Louise Belcher

Dr Hannah Belcher is an autistic advocate and researcher, who has completed a PhD in camouflaging, mental health and late diagnosis in autistic females. She is the author of Taking Off the Mask and a lecturer in User Led Research at King's College London. She lives in Essex.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Vic

So I gave this 5 stars because objectively, I think this is a fantastic resource with really helpful explanations and exercises. However, subjectively I think I give this 3 stars. Probably because I studied Psychology for like 8 years to phd level I felt that a lot of this book was just too basic fo......more

Goodreads review by Hayley

The book is clear and straightforward in explaining masking, with lots of helpful references and examples. I didnt find the exercises helpful, as they're basically CBT tasks and to be honest, I already spend too much time analysing different scenarios that I dont need to do even more of it. I think......more

This book was on the list we were given at the end of the autism diagnosis report for our son. It’s the 3rd book I have read on autism and the most helpful so far. I also learned quite a bit about myself as well as lots of things I hope will help our boy.......more

Goodreads review by Audrey

4.5/5......more