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Preventing the Hidden Burnout Crisis in Autistic Women and Girls
One of the most heart-wrenching things I realized as a late-identified Autistic woman was just how disconnected I was from my true self. Decades of masking, of becoming a professional-level chameleon, left me feeling like I didn't even know who "me" was anymore. It was this constant, buzzing,...
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Why Don’t Autistic Women Get Diagnosed, and Why Is It So Important?
I’ve diagnosed unrecognized autistic women for ten years and worked with them in therapy. These women are often successfully employed and married or with partners. They might have children and be involved in working with schools on their children’s behalf. Some might have struggled in jobs or...
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Autistic Lived Experience: Compromised by Neuropsychological Malpractice
If the world were a rightly ordered place, then this story takes a very different turn than it did. Looking back on how it unfolded, the wrong that was committed against me, as hurtful as it was, is not surprising, considering all I have learned since then about the prevailing narrative around...
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The Gulf Coast Burnout Queen
Ten years ago, we began to sense that women on the spectrum had largely gone unnoticed and, therefore, undiagnosed to degrees that might actually be beyond our imagination. It was like waking up to find out that the nightmare was real. Thanks to the cultural realities of gender expectation,...
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Mask of Your Own Face – Experiences with Masking as an Autistic Adult
Imagine for a moment that you are a kid. As far as you’re aware, you’re like every other kid, but as you go throughout your childhood and adolescence, people start pointing out parts of you that seem a bit…off. Maybe your interests are strange or inappropriate; maybe the way you talk and move...
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Living and Aging Independently on the Autism Spectrum: An Inside View
Having been diagnosed late in life at the age of 44, I lived for the better part of my life on the autism spectrum without myself or anyone else being aware of it. During the time in which I finally knew about this, I was already an older adult and, most recently, a senior citizen. Unlike so many...
