{"id":91,"date":"2021-05-10T20:49:02","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T20:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dianapaulin.domains.trincoll.edu\/locating-black-autism\/?p=91"},"modified":"2021-07-29T20:53:38","modified_gmt":"2021-07-29T20:53:38","slug":"camouflaging-disorders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dianapaulin.domains.trincoll.edu\/locating-black-autism\/emerging-media\/camouflaging-disorders\/","title":{"rendered":"Camouflaging Disorders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Investigation of Psychiatric Disorders masking an Autism Diagnosis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Introduction <\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Hello, my name is Caroline Munn and I am graduating senior majoring in Urban and American Studies at Trinity College which is located in Hartford, Connecticut. During the Spring of 2021, I am enrolled in a class titled Autistic Blackness, where for my final digital project I have constructed a digital exhibit which includes Instagram Posts, TikToks, and Canva Infographics which display black women who were originally diagnosed with a psychiatric condition which eventually led to an Autism diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this class, we focus on how Autism and blackness can be read alongside each other likewise put into conversation. By putting these identities into conversation, the space is created for more diversities in our communities and world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My intention for this project is to ground my research of Late Autism Diagnoses in social media posts such as Instagram and TikTok as well as scholarly sources to demonstrate how social media is a platform and space certain communities and identities to reflect, educate, and advocate. The purpose of this project is to show how late autism diagnoses are being discussed in these social media channels, however, are not being researched in a scholarly setting. Throughout my research on social media, I have concluded that there is little posting about late Autism diagnoses especially from black creators. I was not able to find any black creators when searching #lateautismdiagnosis or #blackwomanlateautismdiagnosis. However, I was able to find creators on TikTok while searching #blackwomanlateautismdiagnosis. The reasoning behind choosing the following three posts is because the posts directly or indirectly discuss the creators experience(s) with a late-autism diagnosis. Furthermore, as I am focusing on late diagnoses in black women and needed to find a creator that was female identifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My approach to autistic blackness is to continue my previous research of late Autism diagnoses and examine how mental disorders can mask an inevitable Autism diagnosis later in life. My thought process behind the research began about a month ago when we were in class discussing the disparities of autism diagnoses in female-identifying children and how they were diagnosed considerably later than their male-identifying counterparts. Moreover, I created a digital exhibit that is linked here<\/a> and examines the connection between Spectrum (the leading resource for Autism research) and a social media post to demonstrate the effect of sharing content with multiple audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Following, I began in the databases by typing in \u201clate autism diagnoses\u201d first and then later \u201chow mental disorders mask eventual autism diagnosis\u201d. I decided to ground my research in supplemental materials discussing psychiatric comorbidities such as Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism and how several psychiatric conditions have been documented in comorbidity with Autism. I chose to condense the research studies into infographics to demonstrate the most important information. In addition to writing descriptions of each of the elements included in my exhibit. Keeping in mind that my audience is the members of the black autist community in addition to those seeking a community, I want to make sure that my exhibit is clear and understandable for all. Furthermore, I hope that at the conclusion, the reader is able to fit my exhibit into the larger context of Black Autism and disability studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Methods that I have used to make this digital exhibit accessible include large fonts, a low-contrast neutral color palette option to accommodate sensitive vision, and descriptions. I have provided text explanations for visual, video, links throughout my page. In addition, I have included a consistent navigation of a constant scroll for increased ease in operation. Other designs I have incorporated include, the use of simple sentences, bullets, links to further research, and writing in plain English. No one should be excluded because of their disability and with this in mind, and I have created this page with the commitment to accessibility for all people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the digital exhibit, I wanted to communicate that I am creating this project highlighting the Autistic community as a neurotypical person. I understand my analysis of this work could be different than others. Please contact if a user encounters any problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Next, I will transition to the Social Media posts that have grounded this exhibit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Being overlooked”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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“also women and ESPECIALLY black women are overlooked and not believed.<\/em>” <\/p>caption from @audraathome0’s TikTok<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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@audraathome0<\/a>

also, women and ESPECIALLY black women are overlooked and not believed. #Destinationdepop<\/a> #selfdiagnosis<\/a> #actuallyadhd<\/a> #autistiktok<\/a> #neurodivergent<\/a><\/p> \u266c Roxanne – Instrumental – Califa Azul<\/a> <\/section> <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

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This TikTok published by @audraathome0 brings up the conversation of being overlooked and not believed for having Autism. The creator identifies as an ADHD, pan person on her profile. Audra shares to their community that if you are a black female and need self-validation for diagnoses of ADHD and Autism, she will share her personal experience. Early on in life, Audra began to notice that things were not \u201cnormal\u201d which prompted her to begin the process of an evaluation for ADHD. The evaluator alluded that she might have Autism but she said she was perfectly normal. After this evaluation, she went on with her daily life. Now, as she is going on 41 years old and this was posted on 4\/22\/21, she understands that her experiences are not just another \u201cpersonality quirk\u201d. She has self-diagnosed herself as Autistic and now can understand herself fully.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

About @audraathome0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Link to @audraathome0 TikTok<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The bubble above brings the observer to @audraathome0’s TikTok profile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“My Autistic Story”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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@autisticallykofi<\/a>

My Autism Story Pt. 1\/? #autism<\/a> #autisticwomen<\/a> #autistiktok<\/a> #actuallyautistic<\/a> #autisticblackgirls<\/a> #autismawareness<\/a><\/p> \u266c original sound – \u26d3\ud83d\udc80K\u014dfi\ud83d\udc80\u26d3<\/a> <\/section> <\/blockquote>