Dropping the mask: It takes two.

ABSTRACT:

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In some situations, autistic people feel pressure to change their social behaviour by camouflaging. In other situations, autistic people feel they don't need to change their social behaviour. Instead, they feel they can socialise in ways that feel authentic or true to themselves. Past research has tended to focus on autistic people's experiences of camouflaging rather than their experiences of authenticity. In this study, we asked autistic people what it is like for them when they can socialise in ways that feel authentic or true to themselves. Autistic people described authentic-feeling socialising as more free, spontaneous and open than camouflaging. In supportive environments, this kind of socialising had more positive and less negative consequences than camouflagin

SUBMITTER: Cook JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10981180 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature