And it can help rewrite the techniques you have built to function in society (‘masking’) towards something more comfortable and less energy consuming.
A friend of mine got diagnosed in her 20s, when she went in burnout and couldn’t get over it because any social situation was overwhelming. Learning methods to handle social situations -less masking, more awareness of her limits, searching for clearer boundaries and much more I am not privy to- helped her tremendously and she is blossoming.
I can’t imagine not masking at work. It’s so ingrained that I don’t know what “not masking” in a professional setting would even look like. When I’m alone I don’t mask, obviously, but when I’m alone I’m also not talking to anyone. So there’s no facial expression or tone of voice to monitor.
I’ve had way, way too many bad experiences related to not masking. Too much punishment, too many baseless accusations, too many authority figures confusing flat tones of voice with “sarcasm” or “rudeness.” The idea of not masking in a professional setting is as scary as showing up to work naked.
It’s cool that some people are finding ways to reduce masking, but I can’t fathom what I could do instead. From what I’ve experienced, the world still isn’t ready for full autism acceptance.
Confirmation is one step in being able to solve / correct behavior and build workarounds.
Acceptance is a big step for a lot of people, as is the feeling of solidarity.
Now they know what to research for “life-hacks” on how to interact with and live within the world that isn’t designed for people like us.
And it can help rewrite the techniques you have built to function in society (‘masking’) towards something more comfortable and less energy consuming.
A friend of mine got diagnosed in her 20s, when she went in burnout and couldn’t get over it because any social situation was overwhelming. Learning methods to handle social situations -less masking, more awareness of her limits, searching for clearer boundaries and much more I am not privy to- helped her tremendously and she is blossoming.
I can’t imagine not masking at work. It’s so ingrained that I don’t know what “not masking” in a professional setting would even look like. When I’m alone I don’t mask, obviously, but when I’m alone I’m also not talking to anyone. So there’s no facial expression or tone of voice to monitor.
I’ve had way, way too many bad experiences related to not masking. Too much punishment, too many baseless accusations, too many authority figures confusing flat tones of voice with “sarcasm” or “rudeness.” The idea of not masking in a professional setting is as scary as showing up to work naked.
It’s cool that some people are finding ways to reduce masking, but I can’t fathom what I could do instead. From what I’ve experienced, the world still isn’t ready for full autism acceptance.
Completely fair and I’m not denying it’s overall usefulness. Way too many people have found it helpful to deny it.
I just got diagnosed late enough that i already had developed most of the necessary compensatory methods to deal with my day to day life.