...
It is possible, but I think that it requires two things, to be able to perceive and adapt to a reasonable extent to the methods and norms of the majority in society, and to be able to do this without harming yourself to any great extent in the process.
I have developed into a sort of social chameleon, I can adapt to most social environments, except when I get sensory overload. I worked for years on mass spectrometers. These instruments have noisy high vacuum pumps and tend to be grouped together in large rooms. I used ear-plugs, but that made conversations with colleagues very difficult, so I often had to put up with the noise - until I couldn't. Then I would have to sit somewhere quiet with no people for half an hour before being able to work again.
For 99+% of the time I can pass as neurotypical, which is the main reason I reached 59 without a diagnosis - a diagnosis I sought after self-diagnosing. I actively scan other people and adapt myself to the company I am in. If an autistic person can do this, I think a reasonably happy life is possible. I am fairly happy with mine, so far. I do not think that being an autistic that fits seamlessly into neurotypical society should be a prerequisite for a happy life, but I fear that it often is.
My masking/camouflaging is as much me as my autism is. Unsurprising, as it is something I have done since infancy. It causes me little or no discomfort and it has social advantages. I have never understood the concept of 'born again Christian', how would you know such a an odd thing as a second birth had happened? It is the same for me with the concept of 'unmasking', I would not be able to imagine how to go about it. I am also very sceptical about its benefits in my case, if I was able to recognise how to do it in the first place.
Given the levels of alexithymia in autistics, there must me many who would find it difficult to distinguish between 'assumed' and 'natural' behaviours.
My masking/camouflaging is as much me as my autism is. Unsurprising, as it is something I have done since infancy. It causes me little or no discomfort and it has social advantages. I have never understood the concept of 'born again Christian', how would you know such a an odd thing as a second birth had happened? It is the same for me with the concept of 'unmasking', I would not be able to imagine how to go about it. I am also very sceptical about its benefits in my case, if I was able to recognise how to do it in the first place.
Given the levels of alexithymia in autistics, there must me many who would find it difficult to distinguish between 'assumed' and 'natural' behaviours.
hi. feeling a bit depressed from fears this is triggering but i didnt mean he likes it. i mean that he likes things it has done for him.
sorry im not used to an autistic saying they like masking, so if it works for you, great.
I don't believe that Martin has said that actually ie that he 'likes' masking.
It's much more complex than that.
I'm the same as Martin in my views/understanding of 'masking' and I was late diagnosed too at 60.
