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You’ve Never Seen an Untraumatized Autistic Adult. Neither Have I
What we think we know about autistic people may actually be a portrait of what happens to them. The email came in on a Saturday morning, about forty-five minutes before I walked into a room full of clinicians to present at the biggest psychotherapy conference I'll attend this year. A...
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Autistic Personal Philosophy: Why Breaking Up the Autism Spectrum Would Be a Bad Idea
Though the autism spectrum is as widely diversified as any group of people could possibly be, I view us as a single community. Any one segment of the population, however it may be defined, embodies both commonalities and differences, and ours is no exception. Every way in which diversity...
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When Special Interests Look Typical: Understanding the Hidden Intensity in Autistic Girls
Most autistic individuals develop special interests (SIs)—deeply focused passions that go beyond typical hobbies. These interests are often characterized by intensity, prolonged engagement, and difficulty shifting attention away from the topic. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental...
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Who Is Caring for Whom? Rethinking Care Work and Disability
I feel literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. It’s the night of my choir performance and the choir is grouped by sections and lined up in rows in the community centre auditorium. I find myself in the centre of the soprano section: there’s one row in front of me, one row behind, and...
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Coaching Through Career Transitions: Supporting Autistic Professionals Toward Clarity, Confidence, and Well-Being
Life transitions can feel disorienting for anyone, but for autistic adults – and especially those navigating workplaces that misunderstand their brilliance – the stakes are particularly high. Autistic professionals often carry the cumulative impact of masking, misinterpretation, chronic stress,...
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Identifying and Understanding Risk Factors for Sexual Victimization in Women with Autism Spectrum Disorder
While individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) report similar levels of interest in romantic connections to their neurotypical peers (Hancock et al., 2016; Fernandes et al., 2016), autistic individuals may experience more difficulty establishing and maintaining healthy and safe relationships...
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Autism Rights, Wrongs, and Acceptance: A Two-Way Street
Though I was diagnosed autistic as an infant, I was unaware I was different until second grade, when I was shuffled between special and regular education classes, when I decided, mostly on my own, that I would transition to mainstream school. While I was a great student throughout my scholastic...
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Helping Autistic Teens Thrive: Shifting the Focus from Stigma to Strength
In recent years, our understanding of autism has grown. Yet, despite this progress, many autistic individuals—especially teens—continue to face negative stigmas and outdated assumptions (Turnock & Langley, 2023). Adolescence is already a time of major change and self-discovery, and for...
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Unmasking the Mask: Breaking Free from Stigma to Embrace Authentic Autistic Identity
This article explores masking in autism, defined as the practice of suppressing autistic traits to conform to societal expectations. Specifically, it examines how stigma reinforces masking, oftentimes leading to emotional exhaustion and complex mental health struggles. To challenge stigma, this...
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The Never-Ending Cycle: Autism, Stigma, and the Cost of Late Diagnosis
What actually constitutes as a late diagnosis for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been up for debate for years. Some studies and institutions cite any diagnosis after 12 years of age as being the cut-off (Hoxworth, 2022), whereas some argue it could be as young as three (Russell et al., 2025)....
