What is Masking?
What is Masking? According to the National Autistic Society (UK), masking is a strategy used by some Autistic people, consciously or unconsciously, to appear neurotypical(1). Many people with Autism spend their young lives attempting to hide or “mask” their symptoms, a learned coping strategy that people use (intentionally as well as unintentionally) to blend in with others, and fit in to the roles that are available to them. This can involve camouflaging or hiding behaviors associated with Autism, copying the behavior of others (such as eye contact and speech patterns), and forcing themselves to endure intense sensory discomforts that most others around them do not find uncomfortable.
What Features of Autism are Masked?
Features of Autism typically result in Autistic people feeling and appearing different from their neurotypical peers, in a number of different ways. When people feel different, masking can result. A Cleveland Clinic article(2) summarizes Rachael Ferrari, M.D.’s description of how features of Autism can result in Autistic people feeling and appearing different:
- Difficulty or differences in communicating, which includes nonverbal communication such as facial expressions, eye contact, and gestures, as well as tone of voice, and taking sarcasm and metaphors literally.
- Social difficulties, including being labeled as rude or weird, which sometimes happens because a person communicates differently. Communication differences may be unintentional, but difficult to avoid. Often, Autistic people find that their social efforts fail, which leads them to isolate and pull away from potential relationships.
- Self-stimulating behaviors, or “stimming. “Stimming” is repetitive motor movements that help calm or distract a person, or help them communicate strong feelings, such as flapping the hands or arms, touching the fingers together repeatedly, or rocking back and forth.
- Hyper- or hypo- sensory awareness of the environment. Hyper-sensory challenges can include being bothered by tastes or textures in food; the way certain clothes, tags, or seams feel; bright lights; and loud, unexpected, or specific types of noises. Sensory experiences others may not even notice can overwhelm or upset an Autistic person, and this can be debilitating. Some experience hypo-sensory challenges, in which they may need or seek intense sensory input, such as very loud music, spicy food, bouncing on a trampoline, or a heavy jacket or weighted blanket.
What Good Does Masking Do?
Why would people mask, consciously or unconsciously; what good does it do? Neurodivergent people (with Autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and other conditions) and neurotypical people all engage in masking. As with most human behavior, people mask because it is functional for them (even though it can also be significantly detrimental to them). Masking can help protect people from being bullied, stigmatized, and marginalized. It can help people make and keep friends and romantic partners, whether or not these relationships are truly authentic. It can lead to improvements in performance at school and at work. Masking can prevent socially awkward experiences, which can be traumatic and anxiety-producing.
How Can Masking be Harmful?
Masking can occur at school, work, at home, and with friends; in any situation. While masking can help individuals in the short-term, it can be harmful in many lasting ways. Masking can serve to hide aspects of a person’s true nature that they may benefit from sharing with others, and can eventually lead to a loss of self-knowledge. Over time, masking can be exhausting, and can lead to meltdowns, shutdowns, and burnout, as well as self-harm, suicidal ideation, and other mental health challenges. Masking contributes to feelings of disconnection from others, and increases vulnerability to abuse when it leads people to submit to others’ wishes(1). Masking can block access to vital education and support. An Autistic child who grows up learning to mask and is not formally diagnosed may become an adult who is very difficult to diagnose accurately, despite continuing to feel that they do not belong, or that they are different in meaningful ways that they don’t understand. When masking makes features of Autism less identifiable, this can result in others’ disbelief or denial that a person has Autism (including some who are in the position to diagnose Autism): “You can’t be Autistic, you seem so normal/ you make great eye contact/ you completed an advanced degree/ you feel empathy.” For this reason, when Autism is assessed in adulthood, it is particularly important that assessment be provided by an expert in Autism in adults who understands masking and how symptoms of Autism can evolve over the course of a person’s life.
Given that masking can have both positive (usually short-term) and negative, lasting effects, Autistic people have described experiencing a great challenge when they must choose between fitting in and getting along in life according to neurotypical expectations, and making the best choices for their own mental health and access to support and care. Ultimately, as society becomes more knowledgeable and accepting of human differences including Autism, it is hoped that pressures to mask will be reduced.
If you are aware of masking, believe you may have Autism or be neurodivergent, and would like to learn more about assessment, please reach out to me: https://amyblackmonphd.com/contact/.