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Navigating Autistic Shutdown and Burnout Through a Neurodiversity-Affirming Approach
(Note: This article is written in neurodiversity-affirming language, including identity-first language) Autistic shutdown is a widely recognized but poorly understood neurological response to overwhelming stress. Despite its significance, research on shutdown remains scarce, with most scholarly...
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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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Yes, We Can Socialize
Throughout my life as an autistic person, I have been fortunate to have experienced great moments where I have been able to socialize with others and gain long-lasting friendships. There were also times when, due to my misunderstanding of certain social situations and the anxiety that comes with...
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What Neurodiversity Means to This Late-Identified Autistic Adult
I lived the first 40 years of my life as an autistic individual who didn’t know it yet. In a sense, lost because I lacked a complete picture of who I was. Confused because I faced too many questions as to why I was contending with challenges that were foreign to just about all of my peers, which...
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Just Because We Can Mask Doesn’t Mean We Don’t Need Support as Autistic Adults
We spend a lot of time in the Autism community focused on children and how to support their needs. I admit this is the focus of my career, but we sometimes forget that autistic children become autistic adults. And while progress is often made as autistic people age and mature, there will often...
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Are Therapy and Accommodations Sufficient for Autism Empowerment?
Please note: The terms Aspie, ASD/Neurodivergent, and Autistics will be used to refer to people with Autism. A quick Google search for “supporting” or “empowering” Autistic people brings up pages recounting our impairments and suggested accommodations in education and employment. In the...
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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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Advocating for the Overlooked Needs of Autistic Individuals in the US Criminal Justice System
Over the past 7-15 years, many forensic/clinical professionals working in the US criminal justice system recognize the need for significant change within the US criminal justice system for autistic individuals to be treated humanely and with dignity. “Recently, a diverse team of autistics, family...
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How to Get Unstuck After Receiving an Adult Autism Diagnosis
When I was diagnosed ASD level 1 at age 42 and realized what the staggering number of undiagnosed autistic women my age* must be, my first thought was of all the untapped talent that was out there in the world like misplaced dynamite. There was world-changing potential just waiting to be...
