• Replies 31 replies
  • Subscribers 89 subscribers
  • Views 1717 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Is the concept of masking accurate or useful?

Martin

I am increasingly convinced that the concept of masking is fundamentally flawed and is actually detrimental.

Masking posits the idea that the autistic person who tries to function in allistic society is assuming a different and false personality - a mask - in order to do so. 

My thinking is that this is not at all helpful. Humans are highly social animals and all humans need to be able to communicate accurately and effectively in order to function in a hugely complex society. Autistic humans need to do this just as much as any others, but they have an impairment. While allistics absorb and master all the subtleties of interpersonal communication by subconscious processes during childhood development, autistics do not to the same extent. Allistics then express this ability throughout life with no conscious effort. In contrast, to a greater or lesser extent, autistic people both master in childhood and then use throughout their lives, interpersonal communication skills that are based on conscious observation and emulation and are largely dependent on the use of the intellect.

The autistic person using these communication skills - which may be less effective than those subconscious skills used by allistics - is not adopting a different personality, they are just employing hard-won abilities. It is the immense intellectual investment that makes using these communication skills exhausting and can lead to anxiety and autistic burnout. The autistic person using allistic-style communication skills is the same person, with the same personality, as when they are not. They are not wearing a mask.

When autistics communicate with other autistics, or with allistics who are used to autistic styles of communication, it is much more straightforward and easy, not because they are being 'more authentic', or 'maskless', they are just not having to work as hard.

  • I wonder how the concept of masking effects NT's when dealing with us? Do they assume that what they're seeing when they're with us isn't real? Are they put off making friends with us for fear that we're suddenly going to change and into what? Some kind of monster thats going to eat thier faces off or suck their brains out?

  • in reply to Stuart333

    I think that the concepts attached to 'masking', those of falsity and non-authenticity are problematic. I feel that I am equally the authentic me whatever situation I am in, even when I am using my abilities to blend in with allistic society. I am using hard-won intellectual abilities, not betraying some core identity.

  • in reply to Mr T

    'Acting' might be a better term than 'masking'. In many ways when I am in public I feel that I am performing. Not masking my true self, but playing a part, a script that I have been at considerable pains to learn, and all done in Japanese!

  • in reply to Stuart333
    Stuart333 said:
    Masking is one of the three parts of camouflaging. You can Google the others 

    It's perhaps worth noting that, in general, the autistic community tends to use the broader umbrella term "masking" to cover the whole cluster of behaviours that the CAT-Q psychometric framework splits into three components: compensation, masking, and assimilation.

    This is reflected in the NAS's masking article, where the examples given in the bullet-point list span all three components:

    NAS - Masking

  • I do not think that masking is displaying a false persona.

    I do believe, well in my case, it is a protection mechanism or a short of shield, so that I did not stand out from the crowd. Having been bullied and then controlled in my formative years and beyond, blending in with the 'norm' became a coping mechanism and a protection. This I now know has caused me so much detriment.

    I think it is harder for us 'latelings' to understand the ways in which we use masking just to survive the allistic world. I have a doctorate degree and am intelligent in my field but outwith my comfort zone I have to find a way to survive.

    Guess what I am saying that the theory of masking (camoflaging) is something that allistics have created to try to explain, in their minds, a one size fits all description of how an autist can survive in their society.

  • Masking is one of the three parts of camouflaging. You can Google the others 

    I did it much more when younger and it was tiring, inauthentic, awkward, led to depression and burnout and was contributory in the loss of my relationship. It also meant I was unnoticed and was also advised wrongly.

    The more comfortable and familiar you are with a situation the less you do it I think, or the less effortful. So if you stick to the same places, people and routines, you may not be doing it much or expending much effort if it is then embedded. I think it feels like it decreases as you get older because you become more familiar with what to do, the anxiety drops and you are more natural. Until you are put in a novel situation or are under pressure again.

    I think the concept is useful. It captures the fact that fitting in is effortful and not Intrinsic. It also helps to explain the feeling of not fitting in even when you appear to others to fit in. It also helps to explain people pleasing and limited boundaries plus the propensity for people watching, and the feeling of being lost when asked to improvise and fear of mistakes, hence the preparation, overthinking, replaying conversations excessively, scripting, etc.

    What it doesn't mean is you are acting and there is a whole different person underneath waiting to get out. It basically just means you need to relax a bit more, which is hard when your nervous system sensitivity is turned up 

  • in reply to Homebird

    I tend to notice people's dentistry a lot. I seem to look at the mouth rather than the eyes for some of the time. I do look people directly in the eyes as well, it feels a bit odd, but does not cause me any appreciable discomfort. I tend to time when to make and break eye contact. Experience has led to me developing a system that seems to put people at ease.

  • in reply to Lotus

    I should have said persona or outward personality, however, the concept of the 'masked autistic' as being in some way false and unauthentic is widespread. I prefer to think of myself as being authentic all the time. When in public I am still authentically myself, while at the same time employing my acquired skills in communication to the best of my ability. I think that autistic to allistic communication skills are as hard earned as achieving fluency in a foreign language. Autistic people should be proud of their communication skills, bought and used at some cost, rather than feel shame at being 'false to their identity'. Pressure from parts of the autistic community, and some professionals in the field, to 'unmask' may be helpful to some, but to others it is just another unwanted burden.

  • in reply to Lotus

    Eye contact is one of the most challenging things for me. If you don't try people can think you are not interested. However, if I try to look somewhere in the direction of the person I am trying so hard to not stare that it is difficult to concentrate on what the other person is saying.

  • Interesting post. I agree that autistic people are not adopting a different personality when they emulate typical communication styles, however I don't think that's how masking is defined.

     "Masking (sometimes referred to as camouflaging) involves suppressing or hiding one’s behaviours or traits to appear a certain way"

    https://www.simplypsychology.org/masking-emotions.html

    Everyone masks, but for autistic people this can include suppressing stims, attempting eye contact, trying to smile even though they feel anxious, making small talk about stuff like the weather, and avoiding discussing interests that might be viewed by neurotypical people as "weird".

    Martin said:
    When autistics communicate with other autistics, or with allistics who are used to autistic styles of communication, it is much more straightforward and easy, not because they are being 'more authentic', or 'maskless', they are just not having to work as hard.

    For me, it's not just about communication styles. I feel more comfortable because I don't think other autistic people are going to judge me for my interests, or get upset if I'm honest to the point of bluntness. Another thing is body language - if a neurotypical person sees someone looking down, fiddling with something, they usually think that person is hiding something and is untrustworthy. I usually think they're nervous. So perhaps another reason we feel more comfortable with other autistic people is that we feel that they can read our body language more accurately?

  • Finally! I've been saying this for years, ever since I heard about masking. Everybody masks, we all have slightly different faces we show in different environments, our work face, our parent face, our being with our own parents face and then our normal everyday face, to me it's not different to changing a set of clothes, we come home from school or work and take off our uniforms and put on something comfortable. 

    I think the idea that we mask all the time is a strange one and I've often wondered where it comes from? From what I've seen here, so many people get so upset about it and I wonder if they're being told that they mask and if this puts another layer of stress on in work or social situations. So many people worry about what will happen if they show their authentic selves, that they will be radically different to what everyone around them is used too, but what if you are being authentic and just a bit awkward?