From Masking to Meaning: A Diary-Method Study of the Autistic Authenticity Double Bind in Sport and Exercise Psychology

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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McGinty-Minister, K. L., Swettenham, L., & Whitehead, A. E. (2026). From Masking to Meaning: A Diary-Method Study of the Autistic Authenticity Double Bind in Sport and Exercise Psychology. The Sport Psychologist, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1123/tsp.2026-0044

Publication date: 1 Jan 2026 Added to AutiHub: 7 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
3
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 3 (33.3%)
  1. Kristin L. McGinty-Minister
  2. Laura Swettenham *
  3. Amy E. Whitehead

Abstract

Autistic women remain invisible within sport and exercise psychology, a profession shaped by hypermasculine cultures and allistic norms that regulate who is viewed as competent and “professional.” Using reflexive thematic analysis, this novel longitudinal diary-method study analyzed 132 pages of reflective practice journals spanning 7 years of training and practice as an autistic woman sport and exercise psychologist. Three themes are presented: disparities between neurotypical expectations and autistic experiences, cultivating an authentic self, and working in line with autistic ways of being. Findings demonstrate how masking was a structurally produced response to allistic and gendered standards of professionalism, rendering “authenticity” conditional and distorting individuation. Autistic disclosure was an ambivalent, high-stakes credibility decision. We argue that the field requires structural change to decouple legitimacy from allistic-coded performance and recognize autistic ways of thinking and communicating as professionally viable. This paper makes a significant contribution by extending our understanding of sport and exercise psychology practitioner development, exclusion, individuation, and autistic experience in sport and performance contexts.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 12 Sep 2026 01:04.

Cited references
72
With a DOI
1
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
71
2 / 72 (2.8%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
5 / 72 (6.9%)
References with detected author names
69 / 72 (95.8%)
Without detected author names
3
Without a structured title
2
Without a stable identifier
71
References with raw author names still to review
3
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
69
From DOI or external metadata
69
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
3
4 / 69 (5.8%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 65 / 69 (94.2%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
2 / 69 (2.9%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 2 / 4 (50.0%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 2 / 64 (3.1%).
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