User:Mingyili009/Autistic masking

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“Masking" refers to fitting into the environment by hiding some aspects of ourselves. Even though it's a common practice for people, it's more harmful for people who are autistic.

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[Suggested update to the original article: academic research resources]

There are some research studies centering around the experiences of masking by comparing different groups of people. In 2021, researchers conducted an online survey that compares the experiences of masking in people with autism, neurodivergent people without autism, and neurotypical people. They found that the behavior of masking is shared across all types of people, but some aspects of masking are more specific to people with autism, such as sensory suppression and suppression of stimming. Researchers also situated this into a workplace context and examined workplace masking experiences for autistic, non-autistic, and neurotypical adults in the UK. They identified eight emerging themes from the survey and reported large overlap among three groups such as reasonings and perceptions of benefits and drawbacks: both neurodivergent and neurotypical people adopted masking strategies to achieve social goals, indicating that masking is more like a common rather exclusive experience.

Some qualitative research focused more on the masking experiences specifically for autistic people. A study in 2022 conducted semi-structured interviews with twenty autistic teenagers and observed how masking is associated with mental health (but not necessarily in linear relationship) and how both of them are affected by social and environmental factors. They stressed the need of approaching masking, authenticity, and mental health through the context of people's identities and also the environment, additionally providing some implications to diagnostic services and interventions. Across autism spectrum, there's also an overview of masking/camouflaging characterizations which explores the analogy between camouflaging and passing and argues how masking may be further different for understudied groups across the spectrum like children and adults with linguistic disabilities.

In addition to masking, researchers investigated the 'authenticity' people with autism feel while socializing and observed how supportive environments like being around by people who accept and understand them can lead to their self-awareness and bring more positive socializing experiences than camouflaging. However, this doesn't imply that autistic 'masking' is equivalent to non-authenticity. Researchers proposed that the focus should not be encouraging masking, but promoting autistic authenticity which brings more positive self-image and better mental health.