Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity

by Devon Price

Though a masked Autistic child has no way of explaining why they find life so difficult, they suffer all the same. Peers detect there’s something unnameably “off” about them, and exclude them despite their best attempts at friendliness.

When the child makes themselves small and inobtrusive, they’re granted some of the affection they desperately crave and never get enough of. So they do it more and more, quieting the voice inside themselves that says how they’re being treated isn’t fair. They work hard, demand little, and play by society’s rules as closely as possible.

Autistic burnout is a state of chronic exhaustion where an Autistic person’s skills begin to degrade, and their tolerance to stress is greatly reduced.[5]

At last, Crystal had an explanation for why she couldn’t get as much done as other people, and why basic-seeming tasks like running to the bank or sitting through a two-hour lecture left her too tired to think or speak.