Unmasking Autism: The Power of Embracing Our Hidden Neurodiversity

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Dr. Price is very supportive of self-diagnosis, and encourages people to seek communities local to them to build support networks:

May be highly self educated, but will have struggled with social aspects of college or their career.

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In our COVID era we wear masks which are claustrophobic and annoying and we wish to be rid of them. This, symbolically, is done to Autistic people, those with ADHD and even upon those who suffer from PTSD and other neurodiverse identities. They are squelched and forced to mask their stimming, and so on, as if they are a virus to be contained and hidden, so their condition won't spread and embarrass others.

While masking is employed by many autistic people, people in marginalized groups, including women, people of color and LGBTQ+ people might feel even more compelled to camouflage their disability. I’ve been on the hunt for a book which will help me understand more and educate me in a way that I won’t feel abnormal in a negative way. First of all: Mrs. Obed Marsh, Thanks for saying exactly what I was thinking. Describing people with adjectives is just how English is spoken most of the time.

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I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is autistic and feels alone and to absolutely anyone who wants to learn more about the brain and the amazing things it can do. Social psychologist Devon Price explains that masking is any attempt or strategy "to hide your disability." Price's new book, Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity, explores masking, and how to "unmask" and live more freely. Oh, and just to be clear: I’m fine with being called “an autistic person”, “a person with autism”, and “an autistic”. My only issue is when people mistake somebody’s personal preferences in phrasing for a rule of grammar, or when style guides make false claims about my preferences.

Dr Hannah Belcher is a lecturer, researcher, speaker and author. Here Hannah discusses masking in autistic people, based on research and her own personal experience.

The Positive Side of Unmasking

I learned, for example, that there are zero (yes, zero) tests or evaluative protocols for Autism in adults. The predominant test is one designed for older children. I also learned how much overlap there is between Autism, ADHD, transgender and queer identities, and how much the skill of masking, or deploying behavioral and interactive disguises to appear conformative to neurotypical expectations, is exhausting, demoralizing, and contributes to profound and harmful self-alienation. Ironically, a study I recently conducted with colleagues found that masking didn’t change the judgements that non-autistic peers made towards autistic people’s social behaviours. Even when an autistic person is masking, non-autistic people will still rate them more harshly than non-autistic peers if they don’t know they are autistic. This unconscious bias is evident throughout society for anyone deemed to behave or think atypically by neurotypical standards. Awareness and understanding It’s time to honor the needs, diversity, and unique strengths of Autistic people so that they no longer have to mask—and it’s time for greater public acceptance and accommodation of difference.In embracing neurodiversity, we can all reap the rewards of nonconformity and learn to live authentically, Autistic and neurotypical people alike. Unmasking Autism" will, of course, deeply resonate with those who are Autistic or who identify as someone who does "mask" or at least someone who can relate to "masking." However, "Unmasking Autism" is also a valuable resource for those who work in the field of Autism, those support or simply love someone with Autism, or even someone, myself included, who has always felt neurodiverse yet never officially been "diagnosed."