Different, Not Less: A neurodivergent's guide to embracing your true self and finding your happily ever after

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Reading Different, Not Less brought me a sense of reassurance that there was a place for me in this world, that I would find my happily ever after. Hotjar sets this cookie to know whether a user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's pageview limit. In the same way that I found Chloe's channel when I needed it most, my greatest hope is that someone will find this book at any stage in their diagnostic journey, and feel the same sense of acceptance and relief I did. If you want to read about what it is like to be disabled in a world full of ableism then please do yourself a favour and pick this up. This is a memoir about growing up with autism and ADHD and is a first hand insight into what it means to be neurodivergent (having a brain that isn’t typical).

Ableism is so ingrained in society and this book is here to challenge all those attitudes that people hold about us, even the ones that are so deeply embedded that we internalise the idea that we are less than. I feel like this book is for other autistic people, whether you learn something new about (your) autism or just want to hear another story that might be similar to yours, “Different Not Less” is an interesting read, but I personally wouldn’t recommend it to my friends and family to be honest, because it’s just not coherent enough. This book reminds me that I should be able to do that without fear of being judged or other reprocussions and that I DESERVE to feel comfortable. Katie Koullas, CEO, Yellow Ladybugs'The guide to life that I wish I'd been handed when I was an undiagnosed Autistic kid, unsure of my place in the world . I love these types of books as I was diagnosed with autism as an adult not so long ago and find them very helpful.An empowering lived-experience guide to celebrating and supporting neurodivergence from 24-year-old actor, social media star and advocate Chloé Hayden. This book highlights both the ups and downs of being neurodivergent whilst providing evidence and resources for both neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals to try and make living in this ever expanding universe a little easier. The chapters are short and full of references to Disney movies and things like finding your ‘eye sparkle’.

I did find it a little bit frustrating when collective nouns were used to describe experiences when a key point of the book is that neurodivergence is different for everyone. Her unrelenting positivity regarding the future felt a bit like being kicked while you're down when she failed to acknowledge how her privileges have made her success possible/accessible in the first place.

Unfortunately I'm just a miserable 30-something who related to nothing other than our shared neurodivergence. In Different, Not Less, 24-year-old actor, social media star and neurodivergent advocate Chloe Hayden shares the challenges and triumphs of her personal journey with autism and ADHD, including years of struggle as she moved between 10 schools in 8 years, the process of diagnosis and finally the joy of finding her ‘happily ever after’. What I personally got from it was the memoir aspect, I will never tire of hearing about individual neurodivergent experiences. While the continuous Disney references don’t resonate with me personally I definitely see how that would also be a huge win for a lot of people.