"Autism is me": an investigation of how autistic individuals make sense of Autism and stigma
(Study by Monique Botha, Bridget Dibb & David M. Frost)
Points of interest:
* Autistic research participants consider Autism to be value neutral – akin to any other feature like race or hair colour.
* Participants feel that society sees Autism as being a bad trait to have.
* Participants struggled with the tension in how they see themselves, versus how they believe society sees them.
* Participants are caught between disclosing that they are autistic and concealing it, but feel they are treated negatively either way.
* Participants use the word 'autistic' to reclaim Autism from stigma, and to reframe people's understandings of Autism to be less negative.
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