Masking is the practice of hiding autistic traits to fit into neurotypical social environments. It looks like: forcing eye contact, suppressing stimming, scripting social responses, mimicking others' expressions, and learning to perform neurotypicality as a second language.
It works, in a narrow sense. Masked autistic people often get through school, jobs, and social situations without being identified. They are frequently described as "high-functioning" — a label that means "their suffering is invisible to us."
The cost is catastrophic. Chronic masking is associated with severe mental health outcomes: depression, anxiety, burnout, and in some studies, significantly elevated rates of suicidal ideation. The effort required is immense. Many autistic people describe it as running a cognitive background process that never shuts off.
Late-diagnosed autistic people — particularly women, trans people, and people of color — often spent decades masking so effectively they didn't receive support until well into adulthood. By that point, the burnout can take years to recover from.
Acceptance is not just a nice value. It is a mental health intervention. When autistic people do not have to mask, they can simply exist.
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