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More Real, Less Fake

AutisticBeaut2025

Having read the masking section on the website and a couple of posts.

It seems to me that if there was an increase in "Autism Awareness" raised in society then there would be a decrease in masking consciously and subconsciously.

What do you think?

Agree or not? xx

  • AutisticBeaut2025 said:
    Agree or not?

    Disagree.

    Just because more people might be aware of autism, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will behave differently. Even if society becomes more or less accepting of autistic people’s behaviour, autistic people are a minority and therefore are more likely to be influenced by a majority of made up of non-autistic people. Even accounting for “double-empathy” and potential autistic family members, it is unlikely to change things drastically.

    Young people, autistic and non-autistic, often look to the “cool group” and model themselves on those members.

  • More awareness would be good, as long as it was based on good information and not stereotypes as I think there is a tendency to think we're all the same.

    I'm not sure about masking if I'm honest as I think everyone masks to a certain extent. We all have our work persona, our family persona etc, there are always going to be situations where you need to withhold some parts of your personality and bring forward others. Like the jokes you might laugh at and tell with friends not being ones you'd share with older relatives, or needing to be professional and diplomatic at work when in a another situation you'd tell someone to go and do one. 

    I often wonder if the problem with masking isn't that we do it as much as we don't know when or how to stop doing it?