“We are different, that’s a fact, but they treat us like we’re different-er”: understandings of autism and adolescent identity development

Abstract

Purpose A key development in early adolescence is the active construction of individual identity; for autistic young people, integrating the idea of “being autistic” forms part of this process. The purpose of this paper is to explore identity development from a contextualist perspective, foregrounding young people’s experiences within mainstream educational settings. Design/methodology/approach A longitudinal, qualitative methodology was used: semi-structured interviews were conducted annually with 14 autistic young people, their parents and teachers between school years 6 and 9. Findings Young people felt different from their neurotypical peers and their acceptance of their diagnosis changed over time as they managed their developing personal and public identities. In pursuit of being treated “normally,” many camouflaged their differences at school, which sometimes involved opting out of school-based support. Adults described their own understandings of autism and discussed the responses of others in the school environment to autistic differences. Originality/value The influence of sociocultural discourses of autism on young people’s identity development is discussed and implications for both school based and post-diagnostic support for young people and their families explored.

Does learning you are autistic at a younger age lead to better adult outcomes? A participatory exploration of the perspectives of autistic university students

“…The pressure to fit in that adolescents often experience has led researchers to speculate that learning one is autistic may be particularly challenging for adolescents (e.g. Humphrey & Lewis, 2008; Mesa & Hamilton, 2021). However, our findings suggest that both children and adolescents may be susceptible to initial negative feelings when first learning they are autistic despite potential long-term mental health benefits of gaining access to this important information earlier.…”

Compassionate pedagogy for neurodiversity in higher education: A conceptual analysis

“…First, the ‘hidden curriculum’ at university – that is, the unwritten, and sometimes unintentional, institutional expectations of how students will behave, study, and interact, which are not explicitly taught – tends to exclude minoritised groups from reaching their potential ( Sulaimani and Gut, 2019 ). Second, neurodivergent students often come to university with a negative schema of education following their experiences at school ( Lithari, 2019 ; Mesa and Hamilton, 2022a , b ). Experiences of non-accepting environments in earlier education can have long-lasting impacts, and can contribute to a negative sense of self, affected wellbeing and reduced quality of life for older students and adults ( Hong et al, 2016 ).…”

Psychosocial development measures modification for adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities

“…While identity formation is the pivotal developmental task during adolescence and is life's most important developmental task within psychosocial theory (Erikson, 1963), for adolescents with IDD, identity development takes on more than just the three commonly accepted domains of love, work, and ideology associated with the theory. Adolescents with IDD are grappling with the degree to which their disability contributes to or hinders their identity and how they intend to integrate their disability into who they are as a person (Forber‐Pratt et al, 2017; Mesa & Hamilton, 2021; Rękosiewicz, 2020). With little information about the role of disability as a component of identity development in the current literature, it seems reasonable to borrow from the growing body of minority‐status identity research of other types of minority statuses as a parallel for understanding the role of disability in identity formation.…”