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What happens if you make an #autistic person hide or mask their autistic traits?
In this thread I'll try to explain....
Please read and share widely. If you're autistic, feel free to add you'd thoughts.
Thanks /1
In this thread I'll try to explain....
Please read and share widely. If you're autistic, feel free to add you'd thoughts.
Thanks /1
A lot of autistic traits and behaviours are viewed as unusual or undesirable by the neurotypical majority. Things such as stimming, hyperfocused interests, odd posture and so on can be viewed in this way. /2
This isn't fair - not by a long way - but it is the current state of things and the likelihood of acceptance improving quickly is pretty low, so this is the reality we #autistic people have to exist in. /3
However, many #autistic people are able to suppress or hide these behaviours in order to appear more 'ordinary' and neurotypical, in a process we call masking or, less commonly, camouflaging. /4
Many #autistic people learn to mask voluntarily, and do so to avoid negative social interactions and perceived embarrassment (ie I learned to not stim in public as a child, as I didn't want people to make comments). /5
However, much masking is more or less forced on the individual - a kind of 'you'd better mask or there will be horrible consequences' arrangement. This could be formalised, as it is in ABA, or informal, as it may be with parents or teachers who don't understand. /6
A fear of being punished (sometimes very seriously - loss of food, rights, allowances, access to toys etc) can be a strong motivator, encouraging #autistic people to swallow their true behaviour in favour of 'the mask'. /7
It's common that #autistic folks will have a desire to stay out of trouble, not 'rock the boat', as so often things can spin out of control if we're mocked or criticised unfairly. So getting a child to mask can be eerily easy. It's not so ways though. /8
Some #autistic children and adults resist this kind of thing strongly, and are less happy about masking voluntarily too. A strong independent streak can make this quite a powerful (and perfectly reasonable) impulse. /9
Either way, through harsher or lesser punishments, neurotypicals can force #autistic people to hide their autistic traits and behaviours behind the mask, in order to fit in with the norm. And this is not good news. /10
The problem (other than the basic human right to be able to present as yourself - it's not OK to demand a person do this 'masking' on an ethical level if you stop to consider it) is that masking uses *energy* - lots of it too. /11
So if you 'successfully' force an #autistic child to stop stimming and focus on a task, what you're doing is slamming the mask on with little regard for how much processing power that child now needs to dedicate to maintaining the mask. /12
To continue the computer analogy, it would be like having a very complex and impressive video game constantly playing in the background whilst trying to get day to day tasks done. Most of the RAM is used up, so the computer is slower and juddery. /13
Amazingly, #autistic people can actually maintain masks for years and years, making their own allowances for the processing drain it presents. However, nothing in life is free and ultimately this burning of energy leads to consequences. /14
The most insidious consequence is the little-researched autistic burnout. This appears to be when masking has been done so much, for so long, that the person just burns out their processor. It appears relatively common once an autistic person hits their 30s. /15
But it can happen long before. Some autistic people report burnout at school, or university. Some are lucky and get to their 50s. Trouble is, when it hits, it's life changing. /16
Rather like how 'long covid' seems to cause permanent effects, #autistic burnout can permanently alter a person's ability to cope with the world around them. It can damage a person's life considerably. /17
People lose their jobs, their families, their homes, their ability to look after themselves. And probably because they've been masking too much for too long. /18
So if you force an autistic person to mask their traits, bear in mind that this may be a long term effect of this. As someone who has lived through burnout, I can say - it is awful, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. /19
So please, before you enforce masking behaviour in your autistic children or adults, bear in mind the awful long term effects that you're risking.
Thank you. /20
Thank you. /20
I'll leave this here - I always appreciate caffeine thrown my way! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/UfTVnRY
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