Authentic Autistic Authorship: The Role of Autistic-Authored Young Adult Fiction in Autistic Identity Formation

The teenage years of an individual’s life are a vital time for the formation and acceptance of identity. While teens today have many resources to consult when developing their own sense of identity – not the least including the internet – books remain a valuable resource. In this study, I will examine eight different young adult fiction novels, written by autistic authors and featuring autistic protagonists, for the purpose of examining what messages an autistic reader might see and absorb about their own still-forming sense of identity.