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Masked: Coming Out As Autistic In Adulthood

By Gabriela Glueck,
Amanda Magnus, Anita Rao
Published October 27, 2023 at 5:30 AM EDT
A light-skinned Black woman with freckles and curly brown hair holds two white masks up on either side of her face. Both masks have smiles and happy expressions. She is wearing a blue V-neck T-shirt and is looking at the mask on the right with a neutral expression. The background is light purple and the words “Masked” are above her in dark blue capital lettering.
Charnel Hunter

Many autistic people assigned female at birth remain undiagnosed at 18, so what's it like to get an autism diagnosis in your adulthood? Anita meets two women whose paths to a diagnosis started on the internet. Plus a non-binary photographer shares how their late autism diagnosis has informed their marriage and sense of self.

Meet the guests:

  • Irene Chon, neurodivergent creator and self-empowerment coach, talks about the challenge of getting assessed for autism as an adult and why working in customer service was kind of the perfect job for her as an autistic person
  • Kofi Robinson, a lawyer and TikTok creator, shares how her autistic traits coincide with the expectations for a good lawyer and how she makes solid friendships
  • Jenni Chapman, a queer and nonbinary photographer, draws parallels between coming out as queer and coming out as autistic, and how she's preparing to handle noise sensitivity as a parent

Dig Deeper:
A 2022 study on autism and people assigned female at birth

The TikTok accountthat made Irene realize she was autistic

Jenni's podcast, The Queer Soul Spotlight

Read the transcript | Review the podcast

Tags
Embodied PodcastAutismNeurodivergenceAutism Spectrum
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Gabriela Glueck
Gabriela Glueck is a producer for Embodied, a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, health and relationships.
See stories by Gabriela Glueck
Amanda Magnus
Amanda Magnus is the executive producer of Embodied, a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships and health. She has also worked on other WUNC shows including Tested and CREEP.
See stories by Amanda Magnus
Anita Rao
Anita Rao is an award-winning journalist, host, creator, and executive editor of "Embodied," a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships & health.
See stories by Anita Rao