Autism Masking: What is it?

Through autism advocacy, we are more aware masking autism can lead to burnout from suppressing natural behaviours and our individuality. But new autism research has expanded our understanding of how damaging camouflaging the condition can be.

Autism is a multidimensional spectrum not limited by gender or race. There are multiple ways to be autistic. However, many undiagnosed autistic adults who grew up with the 'Rain Man' stereotype of autism were excluded from being assessed as children. Researchers refer to them as the “lost generation”, who are unaware of their autism and do not receive the necessary education or support.

Masking, or the ability to blend in with allistic (non-autistic) peers by repressing autistic traits, makes identifying these people more difficult. It is a survival skill many autistic people develop as children to hide their differences from the world. Although many of them don't even know they mask, it comes at a price to their well-being. 

Why mask?

For many undiagnosed autistic adults, masking is a way of life. To blend into society and fulfil social expectations, they hide their emotional, sensory, cognitive, social, and behavioural differences. They often repress their true feelings to avoid disrupting social norms. Many of them mimic the mannerisms and speech patterns of others or fictional characters from media to construct an elaborate social performance of “normality”. Even if they suspect they are different, many undiagnosed autistic adults do not seek out a clinical assessment due to label avoidance.

The internalised and social stigma around autism leads to struggles with accepting their differences. Instead, they hide their signs of autism to avoid social exclusion and hope no one notices. 

Although masking is highly prominent in undiagnosed autistic people, many diagnosed people do it too. In his book Unmasking Autism, Dr Devon Price lists the most commonly masked groups of autistic people. They include women, gender nonconforming people, people of colour, and people who are highly outgoing or vary in their day-to-day functioning. Their autism is often ignored due to differences in social expectations and society’s limited view of what autism looks like.

These people do not align with the stereotypical view of an autistic person as a white, cisgender male with social difficulties. While some autistic people relate to Dustin Hoffman’s portrayal of the condition in Rain Man, or Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory, this stereotype limits our understanding of autism. The high level of masking in marginalised groups demonstrates how it is an inherently social experience not rooted in autism itself but in how we define it and who fits that definition. Adhering to a restricted and outdated view of autism leads to many people with the condition being overlooked, which in turn increases their need to mask.

How does masking work?

The stigma around autism leads to many of its common traits being seen as undesirable, inconvenient, and embarrassing. Stimming behaviours, like rocking back and forth, hand-flapping, fidgeting, and twirling, are a way for autistic people to self-regulate. However, they are often perceived as disruptive or annoying and discouraged as early as childhood. Sensory overload can lead to emotional distress and even physical pain but autistic people’s responses to it are often seen as overreactions. This reinforces the belief that their feelings are wrong or inappropriate in some way. The need for non-verbal communication is often seen as an inconvenience or even used to make flawed judgements about the person’s intelligence level.

Autistic children learn the many ways in which their true selves are unacceptable by observing the negative responses to their behaviour. Eventually, they start trying to hide behind a mask. Researchers have identified two strategies involved in masking: camouflaging and compensating.

Camouflaging is hiding autistic traits to blend in with allistic peers and results in masked autistic people repressing their emotions and sensory distress. They avoid expressing when something makes them uncomfortable or confused. They force themselves not to talk too much about their interests or say something others could perceive as ‘weird’. They monitor their body language and facial expressions to appear friendly and approachable. This camouflage of self is repressing their authenticity, and the self-policing of behaviors further internalizes the feeling of inadequacy.

By compensating for their needs, autistic people attempt to create an illusion of allistic functioning. They may compensate for the differences in their social functioning by faking an acceptable excuse to get out of socializing, like saying they have other obligations instead of saying they need time alone. They may thoroughly research the restaurant and the menu before a casual dinner with friends to compensate for their differences in decision-making and the ability to cope with new environments. They may hide the differences in their interests by forcing themselves to engage with something their peers enjoy, like watching sports instead of researching a niche topic that brings them joy.

The dangers of masking

Masked autistic people combine camouflaging and compensating to avoid detection and potential social exclusion. However, continuously suppressing and censoring their true selves is an exhausting way to live. Masking places demands on autistic people’s emotions and thinking, and the strain of constantly monitoring and adjusting their behaviour can amplify their existing sensory and social discomfort.

Autistic people often use potentially harmful coping strategies to sustain their ability to mask and push through discomfort. While these strategies initially feel helpful at supporting the illusion of allistic functioning, they can develop into serious problems. For example:

• Masked autistic people are often drawn to alcohol and other drugs as they find being in an altered state of consciousness helps reduce their social anxiety and sensory overload. However, overreliance can lead to substance abuse and consequent health issues.

• They often restrict their eating to create predictable routines and add simplicity to lives overly complicated by the need to hide their true selves. As a result, they are likely to develop severe eating disorders.

• Dissociating from reality helps decrease the pressures of masking but it also reduces self-awareness of physical sensations, emotions, and identity.

Cognitive fatigue is a commonly overlooked consequence of masking. Maintaining the facade of ‘normality’ reduces the capacity for other functions and over time leads to burnout. Masked autistic people can find comfort in adhering to rules and choices made by others as it eliminates the stress and cognitive load of decision making and planning. Unfortunately, this makes them more vulnerable to financial and relational abuse and emotional manipulation.

Finally, many masked autistic people are compulsive people-pleasers. They prioritise the needs of others to avoid the social exclusion. The persistent belief that their feelings are wrong makes them increasingly cater to the emotions of others. However, not voicing their own needs, emotions, and opinions prevents them from forming meaningful and equal relationships, and they often struggle with loneliness. Autistic people also further increase their risk of burnout by not addressing their own needs.

The world without masking

Ultimately, masking is a difficult and unsustainable way of living. Masked autistic people sacrifice their authenticity and comfort to avoid social exclusion. Instead, it reduces their sense of belonging and increases risk of suicide. If masking does not accomplish the goal of social belonging, why does it still exist?

Masking is not a feature of autism itself, but rather a response to the stigma around the condition in society.

Whether diagnosed or not, autistic people are exposed to overt and subtle messages that their behaviours are not acceptable. Responses like mocking stimming behaviours, being irritated at someone’s sensory discomfort, or not trusting someone because they talk or behave differently are forms of ableism that target and exclude autistic people.

By prioritising certain ways of thinking, feeling, socialising, and living over others, we perpetuate the need for masking. While individual autistic people can work towards self-acceptance to reduce the reliance on masking, the overwhelmingly allistic society needs to work on acceptance of differences and provision of accommodations. Allowing people to be authentically themselves will benefit anyone, autistic or not. 

Polina Necheva