“I've Spent My Whole Life Striving to Be Normal”: Internalized Stigma and Perceived Impact of Diagnosis in Autistic Adults

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Self-understanding protects against the development of internalized autism stigma. Diagnosticians and service providers play an important role in improving self-understanding and well-being in autistic adults. More research is needed to understand the role of age at diagnosis and mechanisms behind positive identity development after autism diagnosis.