‘But That's Just What You Can't Do’: Personal Reflections on the Construction and Management of Identity Following a Late Diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome

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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Limburg, J. (2015). ‘But That's Just What You Can't Do’: Personal Reflections on the Construction and Management of Identity Following a Late Diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome. Life Writing, 13(1), 141-150. https://doi.org/10.1080/14484528.2016.1120639

Publication date: 18 Dec 2015 Added to AutiHub: 16 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
1
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 1 (100.0%)
  1. Joanne Limburg *

Abstract

At 42, I received a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome (AS). In this essay, I reflect on what this could mean for my sense of self in the present, and how a retrospective diagnosis of a lifelong condition might also lead me to view my past self—my narrative self—in a different way. As a child, I experienced myself as indefinably ‘deficient’; as I grew to adulthood, I learned to repudiate and disguise those parts of myself which, in Ervin Goffman's terms, were ‘discreditable’. The effect of this was such that, when asked to ‘be myself’, I found I no longer knew what this meant. I did not recognise myself in clinical descriptions of AS, but my reading of autobiographical writing by women with AS would lead me to seek a diagnosis. As I tell this story, I consider the various perspectives available to help me structure and interpret it: the medical model, the social constructivist model and the perspective that emerges from such autobiographical writings. My reading, and experience post-diagnosis, leads me to conclude that an autistic identity, no less than any other, has its performative aspects.

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: 20 Sep 2026 01:01.

Cited references
27
With a DOI
13
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
10
3 / 27 (11.1%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
2 / 27 (7.4%)
References with detected author names
26 / 27 (96.3%)
Without detected author names
1
Without a structured title
1
Without a stable identifier
7
References with raw author names still to review
0
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
31
From DOI or external metadata
31
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
3 / 31 (9.7%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 28 / 31 (90.3%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
3 / 31 (9.7%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 3 / 3 (100.0%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 2 / 30 (6.7%).
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