The Undercover Autistic: Navigating Your Diagnosis — Paperback

There is a moment — sometimes quiet, sometimes disorienting — when a diagnosis stops being a label and starts becoming a lens. The Undercover Autistic: Navigating Your Diagnosis by Leigh East was written for that moment. Writing from lived experience rather than clinical distance, Leigh traces her own post-diagnosis journey through the relief and the grief, the slow work of reframing a lifetime of experiences through a more honest lens. The book covers concepts often missing from formal diagnosis conversations: neurodiversity, energy accounting, autistic burnout, camouflaging, sensory sensitivity, and the limits of the medical model of autism — along with practical ideas for moving forward when formal post-diagnostic support isn’t readily available.

We carry this at EOWD because the post-diagnosis period is one of the least-resourced moments in the autistic experience — and most of what exists is written for clinicians or parents, not for the autistic adult doing the actual work of understanding themselves. Leigh’s voice is grounded, warm, and unflinching. She doesn’t offer a cure or a checklist. She offers perspective, language, and company for a road that can feel very lonely. For late-diagnosed adults, newly identified autistic individuals, and the caregivers and educators who want to understand what a diagnosis actually means from the inside, this is a resource that meets people where they are.

This book supports personal reflection, identity exploration, masking awareness, and self-advocacy conversations. It is not a substitute for formal evaluation, therapy, counseling, or individualized professional guidance, and does not diagnose, confirm, or assess autism. If you are navigating a diagnosis or mental health concerns, please consult a qualified healthcare or mental health professional.

Explore the book written for the moment after the diagnosis — when the real work of understanding begins.

Product Specs

• Author: Leigh East
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 322
• ISBN: 978-0-956848-04-8
• Dimensions: 22.9×15.2 cm (~9.0×6.0 in)
• Publication Date: October 11, 2022
• Subject: Adult autism, late diagnosis, masking, autistic burnout, identity, self-advocacy, neurodiversity
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: US

• Brand: Leigh East
• Model/SKU: 9780956848048
• ISBN: 978-0-956848-04-8
• Vendor/Supplier: Books by splitShops (via Shopify Collective)