Masquerading the landscape: mapping disability geographies through neurodivergent masking

Angelina Vaccaro

Chapter 11 in Disability in a Turbulent Era, 2026, pp 132-140 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter explores how geography is not a neutral background, but a powerful force that shapes how people with disabilities experience the world. Throughout the past and the present, geography has been used to isolate people who don’t fit the norm, including disability, BIPOC, and queer communities. This chapter highlights “geographies of disability” as a meaningful way to understand the relationality and explore how elements of geography (including physical, political, and social aspects) interact to produce different experiences that can be either disabling or enabling. Focusing on the neurodivergent communities, this chapter demonstrates the relationship between geography and disability by examining “masking,” a process whereby neurodivergent people hide their traits to appear more “neurotypical.” Whether someone masks, and how they do it, is dependent on different geographical elements including: the physical environment; social norms; past experiences; emotional responses; and perceived inclusivity. Masking demonstrates how disability and geography come together to produce different experiences in different spaces. Rather than seeing masking only as harmful (though it can be), this chapter also explores how it can be a form of survival or resistance. By better understanding how neurodivergent people interact with geography, we can start to imagine and build more inclusive spaces.

Keywords: Neurodivergence; Geography of disability; Relational space; Assemblage theory; Masking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035347247
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