Lauren Del Valle

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Oct 2, 2025, 5:20 PM

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Updated

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Rep. Mike Lawler introduced a resolution to establish "Black Autism Acceptance and Awareness Day" on Sept. 19. It was inspired by Westchester County resident Ayanna Sanaa Davis.

Davis spoke with News 12 about her experience as a black woman with autism on Thursday.

Davis is known on social media as “Phenomenally Autistic.” She started sharing her experience as a Black woman with autism in 2020.

Initially, Davis says doctors diagnosed her with bipolar disorder and says it took three days of testing to be diagnosed with autism.

Dr. Courtney Ray, PhD, MDiv is a clinical neuropsychologist at Northwell Behavioral Health at Mount Kisco. She says that Davis’s story is not unheard of.

“Girls are far less likely to be recognized as having autistic features than boys are, and often because of the way girls are socialized. We kind of have a lot more of what we call ‘masking.’ They might be able to better hide some of those things that might be stereotypically what we would call ‘autistic syndromes,’" said Ray.

Davis additionally praised Lawler's efforts, saying the awareness is important.

"Black autistic voices need to be centered, that way we can bring more acceptance and awareness to all of us," said Davis.