What it is actually like to be neurodivergent in a world designed for a different neurology. This hub collects the pages about diagnosis, burnout, masking, healthcare, identity, and the intersections of neurodivergence with gender, race, and class.
Diagnosis and identity
The diagnosis question · what autism diagnosis is, what it does, and the philosophical questions it raises.
Late diagnosis · who gets missed, why, and what decades of unrecognised neurodivergence cost. Gender, race, diagnostic overshadowing, and masking.
Diagnostic pathways · how the system actually works in the UK and across Europe. Waiting times, system failures, the NAIT pathfinder work, and neuro-affirming practice.
The cost of mismatch
Masking and camouflaging · the evidence on what happens when autistic people suppress their natural responses to appear neurotypical. Documented mental health consequences.
Autistic burnout · prolonged exhaustion, skill loss, and reduced sensory tolerance from sustained masking and environmental mismatch. Distinct from depression. Requires different intervention.
Autistic healthcare experience · what happens when autistic people encounter healthcare systems designed for a different neurology. Professional ignorance, sensory barriers, and the gap between recommended adaptations and reality.
Equity and intersectionality
Intersectional neurodiversity · how neurodivergence intersects with sex, gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, culture, and class. Who gets identified, who gets missed, and why the research itself is unevenly distributed.