Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry (3DN), University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
The Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2022 Dec;52(12):5301-5307. doi: 10.1007/s10803-021-05384-z. Epub 2022 Jan 3.
As autism is an invisible and often stigmatised condition, disclosing the diagnosis may lead to both support and/or discrimination. This mixed-methods questionnaire study examined autistic adults' experiences of disclosure in various contexts. The sample consisted of 393 participants aged 17-83 years from two longitudinal surveys. Almost all participants disclosed their diagnosis to someone, most commonly to friends. A significant minority of participants studying and/or working at the time had not disclosed to their education provider/employer. Content analysis of open-ended responses showed participants desired to gain understanding and support from disclosure but feared prejudice. While some received support, others encountered dismissiveness and misunderstanding. Findings highlight the need to improve autism understanding and reduce stigma within and beyond educational and employment contexts.
由于自闭症是一种无形的、常常带有污名的病症，因此透露诊断结果可能会带来支持，也可能带来歧视。本混合方法问卷调查研究考察了自闭症成年人在各种情境下的透露经历。样本由来自两个纵向调查的 393 名年龄在 17-83 岁的参与者组成。几乎所有参与者都向某人透露了自己的诊断结果，最常见的是向朋友透露。在当时学习和/或工作的少数参与者没有向他们的教育提供者/雇主透露。对开放式回答的内容分析表明，参与者希望通过透露诊断结果获得理解和支持，但又担心受到偏见。虽然有些人得到了支持，但也有些人遇到了轻视和误解。研究结果突出表明，需要在教育和就业环境内外提高对自闭症的理解，减少污名化。
