Masking in Autism: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?
For many autistic people, navigating everyday social situations can involve more than simply interacting with others. It can involve consciously or unconsciously monitoring, adjusting, or suppressing aspects of themselves in order to appear more “socially typical”. This process is often referred to as autistic masking or camouflaging.
While masking can sometimes help an autistic person navigate social environments, research increasingly suggests that continuously feeling the need to hide or compensate for autistic characteristics can come at a significant emotional and psychological cost.
What is masking?
Masking refers to strategies used by people in autism spectrum to hide, suppress, or compensate for autistic characteristics in social situations. It can involve behaviours that are relatively subtle and may become so familiar that the person is not always consciously aware that they are doing them.
Examples can include:
- consciously making eye contact despite finding it uncomfortable
- rehearsing conversations or planning what to say in advance
- copying other people’s gestures, facial expressions or ways of speaking
- monitoring one’s tone of voice, body language or facial expressions
- suppressing movements or behaviours that help with self-regulation
- hiding sensory discomfort or pretending to be comfortable
- carefully observing social interactions in order to work out what is expected
- changing one’s personality or interests depending on the social environment.
Research by Hull et al. (2017) described camouflaging as involving processes of masking, compensation and assimilation. In other words, a person may suppress an autistic behaviour, develop strategies to compensate for an area they find difficult, or actively imitate behaviours that appear more socially acceptable.
Why do autistic people mask?
Masking often develops in response to social expectations.
From an early age, autistic people may receive explicit or implicit messages about how they are “supposed” to behave. They may learn that certain behaviours attract negative attention, while appearing more socially typical can lead to greater acceptance.
Research suggests that motivations for camouflaging can include avoiding rejection or stigma, wanting to form social relationships, protecting oneself from negative social experiences, and meeting expectations in education or employment.
This is important because masking should not simply be understood as an individual problem. It can also reflect the social environment in which the person is trying to function. When autistic characteristics are consistently viewed as something that needs to be hidden or corrected, masking can become a way of protecting oneself from a world that does not always accommodate neurodivergent ways of being.
When does masking become exhausting?
Masking requires ongoing monitoring. A person may simultaneously be participating in a conversation while thinking about their eye contact, facial expression, tone of voice, body language, what they should say next and whether they are behaving “normally” enough. Over time, this can become cognitively and emotionally demanding.
Autistic adults who report higher levels of camouflaging have also reported greater levels of anxiety, depression, stress and lower psychological wellbeing. A large mixed-methods systematic review (Bradley et al., 2021) found that camouflaging was associated with experiences including burnout, difficulties in relationships, lower self-esteem and uncertainty around identity.
Qualitative research similarly suggests that the strategies that appear most successful from the outside can sometimes be particularly demanding internally, especially when they require high levels of self-monitoring and cognitive effort.
This does not mean that masking inevitably causes mental health difficulties, nor does it mean that every autistic person who masks will experience burnout or distress. The relationship is complex and research is still developing. However, the consistent association between greater camouflaging and poorer mental health outcomes makes it an important area for consideration.
Why does masking matter?
Understanding masking can change the way we think about autism.
An autistic person who appears confident, sociable or highly adaptable may still be experiencing considerable internal effort. Someone may appear to be coping extremely well while using significant energy to maintain that presentation.
For clinicians, educators, employers and family members, recognising masking can therefore help create a more complete understanding of an autistic person’s experiences.
The goal should not necessarily be to eliminate every coping strategy. Some forms of adaptation can be useful and can provide autistic people with greater choice and control in different environments. The concern arises when a person feels that they must constantly hide who they are in order to be accepted.
Creating environments in which autistic communication, sensory needs and self-regulatory behaviours are understood and accommodated can reduce the pressure to mask.
Written by Sotirios Floros, Psychologist , PA to Dr Kassy Drosou