Autistic masking is defined as the suppression of conscious (like forcing yourself to make eye contact even if it is uncomfortable) or unconscious (learning over time to automatically minimise the amount you talk about a favourite topic, to the point where you don’t have to think about doing so) of parts of your identity in order to avoid negative judgements or ‘blend in’ in non-autistic spaces. Our research in this area so far has focussed on conceptualisations of masking, and understanding experiences of masking in autistic and non-autistic adults. 

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Papers: 

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Miller, D., Rees, J. and Pearson, A.  (2021). “Masking is Life”: Experiences of Masking in Autistic and non-Autistic Adults. Autism in Adulthood. http://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2020.0083

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Pearson, A and Rose, K (2021). A Conceptual Analysis of Autistic Masking: Understanding the Narrative of Stigma and the Illusion of Choice. Autism in Adulthood. Online ahead of print.  http://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2020.0043

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