Masking, From a Different Point Of View
Welcome back to the Audacious Aspie! This week, we continue looking at Autistic/Asperger masking, this time, a new interviewee will be joining us today, to talk about the side of Autistic/Aspie masking that was only lightly touched on by Healthwatch Bristol: the effects of masking on women on the spectrum. What effects are there besides being belatedly (three words in a row starting with a B, and they said it could never be done) diagnosed with Autism/Aspergers? Will, let's find out together.
Everyone please welcome our next guest, SPECTRUM! (cue cheers and claps from audience. Yes, that means you). The article starts off on a rather...interesting note, giving us a short back story of a woman on the spectrum (this is sort of like the prologue of some movies out nowadays, this one being more informative though, and interesting). All of which is listed under the heading “Introduction”. But rather than give a description of all that, we’re going to skip all that and go right into the main story.
Like the story between these 2 chess knights! “Forgive me, my dear, but I must move horizontally towards you and smack you aside like a naughty person, as my lord demands it”.
However, that does not mean that we will skip the introduction entirely, as the paragraphs after the little story do contain some useful information, but if you want to read the story, you can find it here (just go directly to the top of the story, where the big green E lives). As mentioned in the previous article, scientists: those bright lads and lasses that live in the labs and such, found out that many Autistic/Aspergers women mask, or “camouflage”, theirs condition. Maybe possibly kinda explaining why, as SPECTRUM says “three to four times as many boys as girls are diagnosed with the condition” (Paragraph 6, Introduction Section).
It also might explain, so the article says, why girls who are diagnosed young often show “severe traits, and highly intelligent girls are often diagnosed late.” (Paragraph 6, Introduction Section). That could lead to some interesting conversations: “Hey! How's the baby?” “Ohh, shes good. We think she might have Autism though.” “Okay, so when are you going to have her tested?” “Ohhh, maybe when she’s 13 or so, my spouse and I read somewhere that if we wait a couple of years to get her diagnosed, she will become highly intelligent!” “Umm, I don’t think that's-” “I want her to be special!” “(inwardly to self) Trust me, if you're her parents, she’ll be special alright”.
Will, that does it for the this week's post, next week we will continue to look at the same topic and article. And keep an eye out for extra content coming soon to, content not yet scene on this site! But until then, this continues to be, the Audacious Aspie.
Special much like this train! Ever scene a train with graffiti all over it? Does YOUR train have graffiti all over it? No? That's why this train is special.
But before we end here, here’s a little video talking about spectrum masking as will. Some of you might already recognize where it’s from.
Sources used:
https://www.spectrumnews.org/features/deep-dive/costs-camouflaging-autism/