Impostor Syndrome

A psychological pattern in which individuals doubt their accomplishments and fear being exposed as fraudulent despite evidence of competence. For people with disabilities, impostor syndrome is often intensified by ableist institutional structures: accommodations may be internalized as evidence of inadequacy rather than equity, disability disclosure feels like admitting weakness, and the invisible labor of self-accommodation goes unrecognized. Research on ADHD doctoral students found that impostor syndrome was pervasive, with participants describing accommodations as feeling like "cheating" and every request for flexibility as risking confirmation of being a "problem student." Peer communities of disabled students proved effective in countering impostor syndrome by reframing individual struggles as structural barriers.