Masking isn’t just suppressing stims or forcing eye contact – it’s performative survival.
It’s adapting, self-monitoring, and becoming who we think we have to be to stay safe.
And the irony?
For many autistic humans, the pressure to mask actually increases after realizing we’re autistic.
It’s adapting, self-monitoring, and becoming who we think we have to be to stay safe.
And the irony?
For many autistic humans, the pressure to mask actually increases after realizing we’re autistic.
Comments
That’s still masking.
Unmasking isn’t just “being visibly autistic.”
It’s about learning what’s truly ours – what we do for ourselves versus what we do to conform.
What’s real.
Some autistic humans can’t mask.
Some lose the ability to mask over time.
That doesn’t make us “low-functioning.”
That doesn’t make them “inauthentic.”
Masking is part of autism, but it doesn’t define who we are.
That’s the work.