Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello folks :)
I am part of a separate autism friendly group (on WhatsApp and Zoom) and recently we have been talking about masking but I am a bit too shy to say that....I don't really understand.Like - am I supposed to be able to tell if I'm masking and if I'm not? The group organiser said some people just simply don't mask, so maybe I am one of those? I am very newly diagnosed so I'm still trying to get my head around all the terms and facts and stuff.
Like, I can tell sometimes I am forcing eye contact or forcing a laugh or something, especially with new people, but with people like close family I feel just like I am kind of myself with - so I don't understand where the lines are?
Can anyone explain how they view masking - then maybe I can relate?
Thank you in advance for reading and/or replying.
When I was newly diagnosed I assumed it was just a case of figuring out how and when I mask and then making a conscious decision to stop doing those things. However it's not that simple and we are not always aware of when we are masking.
A lot of masking and camouflaging behaviours actually start very early in childhood and happen on an unconscious level. This Kieran Rose video provides a good explanation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFCaoFX-pjg
Another good resource explaining the types of behaviours is this one:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13623613211026754
Wow okay. This was a lot to take in. I identify with a huge number of those points. I tried listening to the YouTube clip but it is 1.5hrs and I simply don't have the ability to take that in.
The list above though sounds 100% like me and I do all of these things. Thank you again. x