In 2024, her efforts culminated with a publication in Sage journals titled “Understanding autistic camouflaging: The use of online community discussions and stigmatized identity research.”
However, Durben’s ultimate accomplishment was not built or finished overnight. Her love for sociological research was first sparked in Associate Professor of Sociology Matt Grace’s seminar Sociology of Mental Health and Illness. There, she researched and wrote a paper on the different methods autistic people use to manage stigma: the first draft of what would become her published article.
“This was my favorite class I’ve taken at Hamilton and the one that made me determined to add a sociology major,” Durben said. “It was just the most fascinating new perspective on mental illness through studying stigma.”
From the beginning, Durben’s research showed promise to her advisors. “Deanna crafted an exquisitely well-written paper,” Grace said. “[It] not only leveled biting critiques against dominant sociological models of stigma, but also shed light on the emerging topic of camouflaging in the autism literature.”
Due to this high level of scholarship, he encouraged her to continue the project through her senior thesis or a Levitt/Emerson proposal. However, Durben had bigger plans and independently submitted to the Sage journal, Neurodiversity. She was determined to “dream big and shoot [her] shot,” regardless of the outcome.
What is Camouflaging/Masking?
“Autistic people often use camouflaging/masking to change their behaviors and self-presentation to appear non-autistic. Camouflaging helps people avoid stigma and negative judgments from others, but is also highly stressful, exhausting, and detrimental to mental health.”
Durben was met not with a rejection, but rather with an opportunity to revise and resubmit for publication consideration. Utilizing comments from the journal, she began to reevaluate and revise. “I printed out pages, drew circles and arrows and crossed out content like an unhinged movie detective,” she said. “[And] eventually, I distilled my argument into two explicit suggestions for researchers studying camouflaging and masking: 1) consult literature on other concealable stigmatized identities to make predictions about yet-to-be tested stigma management strategies in autistic people and 2) consult online community discussions to better understand autistic people’s concerns and conduct more community-informed, helpful research.”
With this new focus in mind, and what she called invaluable insights from Grace, Durben submitted the new draft. After one more round of minor edits, she was selected for publication. “I’m ultimately very proud of the effort that I put in,” Durben said. “Every single sentence and word in the final publication was pored over and evaluated until it conveyed exactly what I wanted it to.”
Durben continued her research in her year-long sociology thesis where she explored individuals’ decision-making when using camouflaging/masking, unmasking, identity disclosure, and identity reframing processes. “Many of my predictions were supported,” she said. “I’m excited to continue parsing through the data I collected and [hope] to be able to publish my results.”
Although she graduated, Durben’s recent research portfolio is still a work-in-progress. For her senior thesis in psychology, she worked with Associate Professor of Psychology Vik Bejjanki to study how individuals utilize various explicit (conscious) learning strategies to adapt to complex motor tasks, and what neural mechanisms underlie these strategies.
“In addition to adapting a sophisticated behavioral paradigm, Deanna also had to gain expertise in a neuroimaging modality she had no prior exposure to,” Bejjanki said. “This did not faze her in the least — Deanna has an outstanding ability to rapidly grasp complex concepts and make connections between diverse facets of scientific inquiry.”
Grace added, “Throughout her research, Deanna honored the voices and perspectives of her participants, which is the greatest compliment I can pay to someone’s work. Deanna’s theoretical insights and empirical rigor are as strong as any student I’ve had the pleasure of teaching during my time at Hamilton.”
Durben’s post-grad plans are to work as a research assistant for 1–2 years, and then to pursue a Ph.D. in either psychology or cognitive neuroscience.
Posted June 12, 2025
