Masking
Many people on the spectrum develop strategies to make their autism less noticeable to people around them so that they may “fit in” more readily. These techniques are called “masking” or “camouflaging.” It is likely that masking strategies begin during childhood and adolescence to avoid stigma and rejection.
Examples of masking strategies include:
- Copying body language or facial expressions
- Pretending to make eye contact by looking at the space between someone’s eyes or at the tip of their nose
- Using scripts in social situations
- Suppressing hand-flapping
The Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q) was developed by Hull et al. to measure social camouflaging or masking behaviors.
While both men and women on the spectrum may mask their autism, autistic women tend to mask more often and across more situations. This puts women at greater risk for the negative outcomes of camouflaging – depression, anxiety, increased sensory sensitivity or overload, chronic exhaustion, and meltdowns.
Masking autistic traits decreases the likelihood that autism will be recognized by professionals who provide autism evaluations. Even when the autism is diagnosed, those who mask frequently may not receive services to address difficulties that they are able to hide. It is important for professionals who provide autism evaluations or other services to help people on the spectrum to feel safe and accepted and thus minimize the need for masking.
- For more information on masking, visit the Girls on the Autism Spectrum module on the Autism Internet Modules website.
- For a video related to this subject, visit Autism Assessment for Individuals: Sasha's Path to Autism Diagnosis and Beyond.