The Role of Gender and Strong Interests in Self-Reported Camouflaging of Autistic Adults

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Putnam, O., Swisher, M., McFayden, T., Chan, D., & Harrop, C. (2025). The Role of Gender and Strong Interests in Self-Reported Camouflaging of Autistic Adults. Neurodiversity, 3. https://doi.org/10.1177/27546330251351732

Publication date: 1 May 2025 Added to AutiHub: 27 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
5
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 5 (20.0%)
  1. Orla Putnam *
  2. Madison Swisher
  3. Tyler McFayden
  4. Dara Chan
  5. Clare Harrop

Abstract

The current study explores how gender, gender-diversity, and strong interests are associated with camouflaging in autistic adults. Seventy-two autistic adults completed an online survey, including measures characterizing the frequency/intensity of their strong interests and self-reported camouflaging, comprised of assimilation, masking, and compensatory behaviors. Adults self-reported their gender (18 men, 30 women, 24 non-binary) and whether they identified as a gender minority (n = 41). Camouflaging varied as a function of gender identity, gender-diversity, and strong interests: non-binary adults, followed by women, reported the most camouflaging behaviors. Women and non-binary adults reported more masking-related behaviors, and non-binary adults and gender minority individuals were distinguished by heightened assimilation-related behaviors. Greater camouflaging was predicted by more frequent engagement with strong interests and experiencing more distress when disengaging from these interests. Further research is needed to examine any connection between engaging with strong interests and the experience of burnout often associated with intense or lengthy camouflaging. These results add to the growing understanding of the association between camouflaging and gender, and provide a first step to understanding connections between strong interests and camouflaging. Clinical implications for supporting autistic individuals with camouflaging experiences are discussed.

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: 2 Oct 2026 07:50.

Cited references
53
With a DOI
51
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
2
9 / 53 (17.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
1 / 53 (1.9%)
References with detected author names
52 / 53 (98.1%)
Without detected author names
1
Without a structured title
1
Without a stable identifier
2
References with raw author names still to review
1
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
242
From DOI or external metadata
242
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
2
125 / 242 (51.7%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 117 / 242 (48.3%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
13 / 242 (5.4%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 13 / 125 (10.4%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 13 / 195 (6.7%).
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