Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi there, my daughter is 12 and has been diagnosed with ASD since 2017. She has been doing cosplay for the past year - using costumes and make-up to be characters, mainly from anime but now also homestuck and does videos and different dances to songs too. Does anyone else have experience of their children doing this? My daughter has friends who do cosplay who do not have ASD but also friends that do and I read it is common in the community. She comes alive when she is another character and I am keen to understand what she gets from cosplay that allows her to overcome some of her social and emotional challenges, I think it is more than just pretending to be someone else. I would be grateful of any one's experiences of this and the positives / negatives they have found. Many thanks
I have a lot of ideas in my head for future cosplays. It's one of my biggest hobbies. A couple of months ago I reincarnated as Sailor Moon, which was very cool. I searched for a long time for a similar costume and I found it on https://www.pikapikacos.com/products/kamado-tanjiro-cosplay-costume. I can say that I was the most beautiful girl that night. But I already have ideas for my next cosplay. I want to reincarnate as Itachi Uchiha. I think that would be the coolest thing.
Hi - my eldest got into this at Uni - it was massively positive for him. He met lots of people and made some really good friends that he is still really close to. It’s such a positive thing - I’m so glad your daughter has found it to be so too. :)
Well, I guess it won't hit you too hard if your daughter cosplays some personalities. Just don't let this game go too far. You can participate in such a game with her and buy some costumes at https://dragon-vibe.com/collections/dragon-rings/. That way you will be around and can observe if such games need to be stopped. I have heard many stories about how this kind of play develops in autistic children, so you should try playing with your child this way. I wish you the best of luck, and please share your results with us!
Hey, couldn't be explained better
It's her dropping into a controlled world where the rules are clear to everyone and everything is predictable to a script. Having such a prescribed world means there's no chaos, no stress, no unpredictability - pure heaven for us auties.
It's exactly the same as getting into video games or train-sets - your own private world where everything is under control and nothing bad happens. A wonderful place to enjoy while processing and dissipating the stresses of living in the normal NT world of chaos.
Hey, it could be a masking thing. it may show that the character has the confidence that she wants.