Why I am unable to stop social masking
When people encourage me to be myself, not to socially mask, or as one Autistic said to me after my diagnosis at age 45 “Just don’t mask!” they make it totally about me, and totally my responsibility, but it’s not just about me, and it never was. I have socially masked for 47 years, and I started masking at the age of 4. What is social masking? Social masking is mimicking neurotypical behaviour to fit in, or to hide in plain sight, camouflaging. Some Autistics will become very adept at it, to...
Read MoreBook Review: Is that Clear? Effective communication in a neurodiverse world, By Jane McNeice
According to the National Autistic Society and UK Adult Psychiatric Morbidity data, over 1 in 100 people are diagnosed as Autistic. This figure is likely to be a gross under-estimate of actual Autistic people given the number of non-diagnosed Autistic people. Females are particularly under-represented in the statistics for various reasons resulting in the thousands of ‘Lost Girls’, of which I am one. I was late diagnosed Autistic on 22nd June this year at the age of 45. A recent online survey...
Read More