Aliah Lawson

Many people with Autism struggle with exploring their personal identity and much of the conflict stems from what society deems is the ideal individual. It is a common characteristic of people with Autism to have troubles interacting socially, and these troubles highlight the ideal social standards in society. Identity can be defined as "the distinguishing character or personality of an individual" (Webster). Under this definition, one's identity is unique and only belongs to them. One's identity is complex and ever-changing, but when and how does one develop their identity? In his book "Social Identity" Dr. Michael Wearing, a sociologist and researcher in social policy discusses how the self-identity development process and the social-identity development process are intertwined. Wearing asserts:

Adolescence represents a privileged moment in which the individual realizes to possess a complex and structured inner world, which characterizes and identifies her/him with respect to others (Inhelder and Piaget 1955).This discovery allows the emergence of a cognitive, social and emotional representation, that the adolescent sees as self-image. (Wearing 175).

What Wearing means by this is that people begin to develop their personal identity in their youth. The youth develop their self-image or personal identity by analyzing themselves internally, which includes their likes, dislikes, beliefs, ideas, and so much more. This then translates to developing their personality, character traits, and behaviors. At this point, they go on to expressing their personal identity to the world, which is also a crucial step in the development of one’s identity. Once they begin to express themselves and interact with others, they are able to learn about and compare their identity to that of the people around them. This can bring about conflict because if there are differences in one’s personal identity.