# Laura Kerbey: The hidden costs of masking

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/women-adhd-3433052/laura-kerbey-the-hidden-costs-of-masking
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/women-adhd-3433052/laura-kerbey-the-hidden-costs-of-masking.md
Podcast: [Women & ADHD](https://stenobird.com/podcast/women-adhd-3433052)
Published: 2025-10-06T04:05:37+00:00
Episode link: https://womenandadhd.com/episodes
Audio file: https://mgln.ai/e/1245/audio3.redcircle.com/episodes/57ef60ee-1e7f-4ed8-99c7-f358b364af52/stream.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/women-adhd-3433052/episodes/laura-kerbey-the-hidden-costs-of-masking
Duration seconds: 3732

## Resource

Episode 202 with Laura Kerbey. “Masking is bloody exhausting. Then again, not masking is scary because we worry people won’t like us or accept us.” Laura is an educator, consultant, and author who has been working with autistic children and young people for nearly 25 years. Laura is the founder of PAST, which stands for Positive Assessments Support and Training, and co-founder of KITE Therapeutic Learning Services, and she’s known internationally for her expertise in autism, PDA (Persistent Drive for Autonomy), and neurodivergent education. She’s also the author of several books, including the newly released “The Kids’ Simple Guide to PDA” and “The Parents’ and Professionals’ Simple Guide to PDA” as well as The (Slightly Distracted) Woman’s Guide to Living with an Adult ADHD Diagnosis, which was released this past summer. Laura brings both professional expertise and lived experience to her work — she was diagnosed with ADHD in her forties and self-identifies as autistic. In this episode, Laura and I discuss: Laura’s personal journey to her ADHD diagnosis in her forties, and her self-identification as autistic Why so many women are overlooked or misdiagnosed until adulthood The physical and mental impacts of masking and “seeming fine” Strategies for unmasking and advocating for oneself The power of reframing ADHD from “deficit” to difference Laura is also offering a 6-week course in January for late-diagnosed and late-identifying women with ADHD, which is based on her book. For information or to register for the course: https://www.trybooking.com/uk/FFKX Website: www.p-ast.co.uk Instagram: @laura_kerbey Facebook: @LauraKerbeyPast Links & Resources: The (Slightly Distracted) Woman’s Guide to Living with an Adult ADHD Diagnosis by Laura Kerbey KITE Therapeutic Learnin…

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## Transcript

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