UnMasked: An Undiagnosed Autistic Adolescence

“You just need to stay calm. You should be able to manage. You should have grown out of that by now. You could try harder.”

Author and illustrator Eliza Fricker spent her adolescence being told all of these things, until her autism diagnosis as an adult revealed why she may not have met the expectations of others so easily. As an adult, she met others who identified as neurodivergent. They shared similar stories and struggles, and so, with her own eventual diagnosis, she started to process her experiences and write about it. And while diagnosis doesn’t bring all the answers, it has allowed her to look back on her younger self with a bit more understanding and compassion – something she now wishes for others.

In this UnMasked talk, Eliza encourages neurodivergent folks to take an empathetic look back at their experiences and honour the identity they have created for themselves, in response to their experiences. Eliza Fricker is an author and illustrator, and an advocate and consultant for PDA, autism and learning. She has published several books, including the Sunday Times bestselling Can’t Not Won’t, and the acclaimed, autobiographical Thumbsucker. Eliza offers a range of support for parents and educators on navigating autism and education, including one-to-one consultations, webinars, presentations, a podcast, and the enduring Missing the Mark illustrations and blog.