Neurodiversity Matters: Hannah Belcher on (un)masking and mental health research

Last month's guest, Dr Morénike Giwa Onaiwu, discussed the relationship between neurodivergent masking and code-switching among racialised groups. This month, Sohail interviews Dr Hannah Belcher, author of Taking off the Mask and lecturer in user-led research at King's. They cover some of the ethical complexities of the neurodiversity framework; how the specifically gendered nature of mainstream autism research has overlooked the experiences of women and non binary people; and how all this plays into issues around masking, social pressure, and mental health.

Dr Hannah Belcher is a User Led Lecturer within the Service User Research Enterprise, at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (KCL). She is autistic herself and has conducted research on the late, missed, and misdiagnosis of autistic women. She has also conducted research on camouflaging/masking and the effects this can have on mental health. Her current work is looking at ways to improve mental health services for autistic people. She has written a book, Taking off the Mask, which includes information and strategies to help autistic people manage their mental health better around masking. 

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