Masking as an Evolutionary Advantage

"Masking Might Help You Survive Imagine going through your day constantly monitoring your every move and carefully choosing your words. All so you can blend in, avoid judgment, or just get through the moment. That's what masking often feels like for many autistic people. It's not about pretending to be someone else; it's about minimizing the parts of yourself that others might not accept."

"What Is Masking and Camouflaging? Masking and camouflaging are strategies autistic individuals use, often unconsciously, to minimize or hide traits and behaviors such as stimming in social settings. For some, it's a way to be accepted. For others, it's a matter of basic safety. Though the two terms overlap, masking generally refers to suppressing visible signs of autism. Camouflaging includes broader tactics such as compensation, using learned strategies to navigate social situations, and assimilation, where one mimics neurotypical behavior to blend in."

"It Affects All Autistics Research has often focused on masking in autistic females, but the truth is, masking occurs across the entire autism spectrum. Even individuals with high support needs engage in masking, though they may be less able to "pull it off" due to communication, cognitive, or sensory challenges. The underlying motivation is universal: safety, acceptance, or simply getting through the day. Stimming in public, for instance, might draw negative attention, from judgmental glances to invasive questions, or even extra scrutiny from authorities."

Masking and camouflaging are strategies autistic people use to minimize or hide autistic traits, including suppressing stimming and mimicking neurotypical behavior. These behaviors often develop as survival strategies in environments that penalize difference, driven by needs for safety, acceptance, or simply to get through the day. Masking can increase social access and reduce immediate risk, but prolonged masking carries substantial cognitive and emotional costs, including burnout, anxiety, depression, and delayed autism diagnosis. Masking occurs across the autism spectrum, including among people with high support needs. Reducing the need to mask requires changing environments rather than asking autistic people to disappear.

Read at Psychology Today