"I Feel Like They are all Interconnected": Understanding the Identity Management Narratives of Autistic LGBTQ College Students

Abstract:Research on both autistic and LGBTQ college students has uncovered themes of marginalization, selective disclosure, and efforts to build community and resist oppression. However, little work has focused on autistic LGBTQ college students and how they understand and manage their multiple identities. To address this gap, we used narrative inquiry to understand how eight college students who identified as both autistic and LGBTQ navigated higher education. We used the reconceptualized model of multiple dimensions of identity as a framework to understand how students made sense of their identities. Our findings indicated these students prioritized salient identities based on context, managed the visibility of identities, and expressed challenges in participating in LGBTQ and/or autistic communities.