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GinnyLyne Mariano Guisadio, Psy.D., is a 2026 graduate of the Psy.D. Program in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University, New England

Dissertation Committee:

  • Rachel Chickerella, PhD, Chairperson
  • Kristen Lauer, PsyD, Committee Member
  • Alberto Soto, PhD, Committee Member

Photo of Dr. GinnyLyne Mariano Guisadio
Dr. Guisadio

Keywords

autistic identity, racial identity, cultural identity, intersectional identity, identity development, identity status theory, grounded theory, intersectionality, grounded theory

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

Racial and autistic identity development both involve navigating stigma, seeking community, and contending with dominant frameworks that constrain authentic self-expression, yet existing research has not examined how these processes interact for individuals holding both identities. These interactions unfold within structural conditions such as diagnostic disparities, culturally specific ableism, and racialized consequences of visible autistic expression, which shape how identity development proceeds for BIPOC autistic adults. This study investigated whether and how the core identity processes of exploration and commitment proceeded for this population. Nine BIPOC autistic adults participated in written interviews analyzed through constructivist grounded theory, with identity status theory applied as a sensitizing concept. Analysis produced four categories of identity development processes—Developing Understanding of Autism and Difference, Encountering External Frameworks, Managing Visibility and Risk, and Variation in Belonging—revealing that autistic and racial/cultural identities operated as mutually constitutive experiences, with conditions in one domain shaping what was possible in the other. This produced a core category that represented three configurations of identity stability: Cross-Domain Exploration and Commitment, Exploration Under Constraint, and Commitment with Limited Stability. These findings suggest that identity development and stability among BIPOC autistic adults is shaped by context, rather than following one universal developmental path. Clinical implications include attention to domain-specific barriers to identity exploration (e.g., cultural ableism limiting access to autistic identity, or White-dominated autistic spaces marginalizing racial identity), access to intersectional spaces holding both autistic and BIPOC identity at once, and exploration of strategic masking as an adaptive survival response. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu/) and Ohio Link Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu/).

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ORCID iD: 0009-0005-0566-1654

Bio:

GinnyLyne Guisadio, PsyD, is a 2026 graduate of the Clinical Psychology program at Antioch University New England. Born and raised in East Tennessee, she also holds a bachelor's degree in Neuroscience-Biochemistry from Maryville College. Outside of her clinical and academic work, she can often be found with her dog, a tripod Sato rescue, crocheting, or spending time thrifting, visiting museums, and reading. Her clinical work has centered in college counseling. Her approach integrates narrative and relational-psychodynamic thinking with a systems lens. She attends to how a person's story has been shaped by the relationships and larger systems they move through, and how the therapeutic relationship itself becomes a place where that story can be explored, and where a person's relationship to it can shift. Beyond the focus of her dissertation, GinnyLyne is interested in continuing to explore the cultural dimensions of disability more broadly, integrating spirituality into psychotherapy, and expanding neurodivergent-affirming approaches to care. Finding community in psychology has shaped how she understands her own place in the field, and she hopes to do the same for others by supervising and mentoring future clinicians.

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