Signs of Masking

Sarah Hendrickx explains signs and behaviours of Masking.

Dr Megan Anna Neff is an autistic psychologist who specialises in autistic wellbeing and mental health. In the image below she highlights common signs of masking.

Sedgewick and colleagues in their recent publication Autism and masking: How and why people do it, and the impact it can have describe four different types of masking (2021). 

• Instinctive masking
• Unconscious masking 
• Ingrained masking 
• Conscious pre-emptive masking 

Sarah Hendrix an autistic advocate highlights that from her personal experience masking is an unconscious decision; a strategy that she adopted at a young age and does not know how to switch off in social situations. In the short video below, she describes the ‘mental toll’ it requires to camouflage, blend in or to adopt a persona that she thinks will meet other’s expectations. 

 

The impact of Masking on Wellbeing by Sarah Hendrickx