In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:
I'm an early-stage PhD student and I've recently realized that I'm autistic. (Official diagnosis is pending, but it explains a lot.) I think this is one of the many reasons I've been drawn to academia as a profession: it's a space where I'm valued for my special interests and so can be myself. At the same time, I think it's clear that being myself has its limits! Specifically, I think there's evidence that I've had a harder time than neurotypical others when it comes to the social side of academia. And those social challenges can have considerable impacts on my professional success more generally.
I can't find anything in the archive about this, so I wanted to ask: Any advice/resources/experiences from autistic people in the profession that they would be willing to share? Among the things I'm curious about: Have you had to mask certain parts of yourself to succeed socially in academia? How do you avoid burnout from masking, especially given how social academia can be? Would you advise disclosing that you are autistic in select professional contexts, or is the risk of stigma too great?
(N.B. Obviously not asking for general life advice, as this wouldn't be the right forum for that. I'm asking about how to succeed as an autistic person in the specific social/professional world of academic philosophy.)
These are all great and important question. Do any readers have any helpful insights or resources to share?
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