High-masking refers to a person who is able to mask so efficiently that they ‘pass’ as neurotypical. High-masking is often one of the reasons women go undiagnosed – unfortunately, many assessors completely ignore masking and dismiss the experience of the individual.
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Around 15–20% of the population is neurodivergent, which is roughly 1 out of 5 — whether they know it or not.
People don't grow out of ADHD. Symptoms change from external hyperactivity to internal restlessness, and life transitions often unmask previously hidden ADHD.
Girls with ADHD are real and underdiagnosed. Population studies show similar rates to boys, but referral bias and different presentations keep girls invisible. ADHD doesn't discriminate by gender, but diagnostic bias does—people socialized as girls face 4+ year delays in diagnosis.
Internalised ableism is a psychological construct that refers to the internalisation of negative beliefs, stereotypes, and prejudices about disabilities that are prevalent in society. It involves self-stigmatization and the development of a negative self-concept based on one's disability and onboarding negative beliefs said to us by parental figures, teachers, grown-ups and society in general.
Masking is a partly unconscious effort to hide or suppress the manifestations of your neurodivergence. It is an exhausting process that many of us do to "fit in" more. Many people start to mask to avoid abuse, discrimination, bullying, harm and ableism.
Justice sensitivity is the heightened awareness of rule violations and inconsistencies, paired with an intense emotional and physiological response. For many neurodivergent people, fairness and consistency function as essential navigational tools when you can't reliably read social cues or predict what will happen next. When rules are applied inconsistently or stated expectations don't match actual consequences, your nervous system registers this as a genuine threat to your ability to navigate the world safely. The intensity of your reaction reflects the pattern violation itself, regardless of the moral weight of the situation. Justice sensitivity is morally neutral—it tells you when a rule has been violated, but not whether the rule was good or fair in the first place.
The double empathy problem is a concept in neurodiversity studies that suggests a mutual misunderstanding between neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals.
Related Questions
“How many people are neurodivergent?”
“Don’t people grow out of ADHD?”
“Doesn’t ADHD mostly affect boys?”
Related Glossary Terms
internalised ableism
masking
justice sensitivity
double empathy
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