The Self of Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Qualitative Study.
Fumi Hanai, Miho Narama, Koji Tamakoshi
PMID 32839893WHAT IT FOUND
Adolescents with autism or ADHD described their self-awareness as emerging through social interactions, even when they struggled to express emotions or felt misunderstood.
They actively worked to adjust their behavior to gain acceptance, rather than lacking social interest.
Key findings
01Participants realized their emotions and characteristics primarily through interactions with teachers, family, and peers, rather than in isolation.
02Despite difficulties with social cues, participants made deliberate efforts to change their behavior to be accepted by others.
03Some participants experienced an 'unnoticed self' where they felt uncertain about their own emotions or lacked the experience of feeling them during interactions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study included only 17 participants, so the findings cannot be generalized to all adolescents with these diagnoses. Participants were recruited through child psychiatrists, which may bias the sample toward those already engaged in medical care. The data relied on self-report and interviews, which are subject to memory bias. The study excluded individuals with intellectual disabilities, so it does not reflect the experience of that population.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the participants' difficulty in expressing emotions or reading social cues as a lack of desire for social connection. The study found that many participants actively tried to transform their behavior to be accepted by others.