Abstract
Fombonne’s (2020) editorial is a thought-provoking appraisal of the literature on ‘camouflaging’, whereby some autistic people mask or compensate for their autistic characteristics as an attempt to fit in and to cope with disabilities under neurotypical social norms. Fombonne (2020) highlights three issues of contention: (a) construct validity and measurement of camouflaging; (b) camouflaging as a reason for late autism diagnosis in adolescence/adulthood; and (c) camouflaging as a feature of the ‘female autism phenotype’. Here, we argue that (a) establishing construct validity and measurement of different aspects of camouflaging is warranted; (b) subjective experiences are important for the differential diagnosis of autism in adolescence/adulthood; and (c) camouflaging is not necessarily a feature of autism in female individuals – nevertheless, taking into account sex and gender influences in development is crucial to understand behavioural manifestations of autism. Future research and clinical directions should involve clarification of associated constructs and measurements, demography, mechanisms, impact (including harms and benefits) and tailored support.
Original language | English |
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Article number | JCPP13344 |
Journal | Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines |
Volume | 62 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs |
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Publication status | Published - Aug 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The conceptualization of this commentary has greatly benefited from the vibrant discussion threads on social media stimulated by Fombonne (2020), such as https://twitter.com/ERubenstein90/status/1283048443980677126 , https://twitter.com/milton_damian/status/1284005617980538880 , https://twitter.com/Noahsasson/status/1298286732853555203 . M‐C.L. is supported by the Academic Scholars Award from the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, the Ontario Brain Institute via the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Disorders (POND) Network (IDS‐I l‐02), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) (PJT 159578 and a CIHR Sex and Gender Science Chair, GSB 171373), the Innovation Fund of the Alternative Funding Plan for the Academic Health Sciences Centres of Ontario (CAM‐18‐004, CAM‐20‐004), and the Slaight Family Child and Youth Mental Health Innovation Fund via the CAMH Foundation. W.M. is supported by the UK National Institute of Health Research, UK Medical Research Council, European Research Council, Health Education England and Autistica. B.C. is supported by the UK Medical Research Council, Leverhulme Trust, British Council and the European Research Council. C.W.N. is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (R01MH104438), MIND Institute Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (U54HD079125) and an Autism Center of Excellence grant awarded by the National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) (P50HD093079). M.V.L. is supported by funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 755816. S.H.A. currently receives funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH114879), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Academic Scholars Award from the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto and CAMH Foundation. P.S. is supported by the Patsy and Jamie Anderson Chair in Child and Youth Mental Health, University of Toronto, Hospital for Sick Children and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada. S.B‐C. is funded by the Autism Research Trust, UK Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the Templeton World Charitable Foundation, the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration East of England (ARC EoE) programme and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in Cambridge; S.B‐C. also received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 777394; The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA and AUTISM SPEAKS, Autistica, SFARI. F.H. is partly funded by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. The views expressed are those of the authors, and not necessarily those of the UK NIHR, NHS, Department of Health and Social Care, US NIMH or CIHR. The authors have declared that they have no competing or potential conflicts of interest.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.