30 Days of Autism Acceptance: 11
April 11th: What are your thoughts/feelings about masking (a term for when autistic people hide their autistic traits)? Do you mask?
Yeah, I masked for so long. I would go into pretty severe depressions burning out from masking. It’s weird, because I didn’t have the autism diagnosis back then, but I feel like I knew I was masking, hiding what I really was in order to fit in. I just thought that everyone did, too.
I’ve worked hard over the past couple of years to figure out how to take the mask off, figure out where the mask ended and I began. Being out helps, but I’ve also found that the mask is a handy tool, a useful skill. As long as I’m aware and mindful of the cost, it’s a tool I still use when needed. And it’s still hard to do.