It’s not that I'm "abnormal". Social and emotional experiences of women with autism spectrum (AS) related to the diagnosis in adulthood

• Sabina Pawlik

  University of Silesia in Katowice

  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9775-7856

• Magdalena Wala

  University of Silesia in Katowice

The paper is part of a research project related to the preparation of the master’s thesis of Magdalena Wala, a fifth-year student of Special Education, prepared under the scientific supervision of Dr. Sabina Pawlik. The research concerns the social and emotional experiences of women diagnosed as late as in adulthood. Compared to men, women are more likely to remain undiagnosed in childhood, thus belonging to the so-called “lost generation”, i.e. people who are deprived of the opportunity to be diagnosed in childhood. One of the reasons is that women with autism spectrum (AS) have a different behavioral pattern (female autism phenotype) than men and the established diagnostic practices are focused on the basic characteristics of AS that were historically established based on the symptoms in men. The aim of the research was to learn about the social and emotional experiences of women with AS who were diagnosed in adulthood. It was associated with women’s experiences before the diagnosis (related to the diagnostic process itself) and experiences after the diagnosis. The research found that women with AS in adulthood saw the value of the diagnosis in the form of increased self-knowledge, liberation from stigmatizing labels, finding their “tribe” and the possibility of receiving forms of support adequate to their condition.

1. Sabina Pawlik, University of Silesia in Katowice
   Przebieg kariery naukowej

   • 2007r. – uzyskanie tytułu magistra pedagogiki specjalnej, Akademia Pedagogiki Specjalnej im. Marii Grzegorzewskiej w Warszawie
   • 2017r. – uzyskanie stopnia doktora nauk społecznych, Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach
   • Od 2020r. –członek zespołu badawczego pod kierunkiem prof. dr hab. Zenona Gajdzicy, realizującego ogólnopolskie badania naukowe pt. „Badania praktyki ogólnodostępnych szkół podstawowych w zakresie edukacji włączającej” w ramach grantu Ministerstwa Edukacji Narodowej

   Zainteresowania badawcze

   • inkluzyjny potencjał sztuki osób z niepełnosprawnością
   • inkluzja edukacyjna
   • historia niepełnosprawności
   • przemiany współczesnej pedagogiki specjalnej
   • niepełnosprawność i wykluczenie społeczne w perspektywie biograficznej
2. Magdalena Wala, University of Silesia in Katowice

   Fifth-year student of special education, University of Silesia in Katowice

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