After completing a year of my doctorate focused on autistic camouflaging, it has become clear that there is a lack of clarity on how autistic camouflaging is understood.
This can be an issue because it can impact the general public’s understanding of what it is and how it can impact autistic individuals.
In this article, I will first outline some misconceptions about autistic camouflaging and what it is NOT, then I will discuss what my current understanding of autistic camouflaging is.
Please note that much of this article is my own opinion, guided by what I have read in the literature and observed in real life. These reflections are not to be taken as fact – as I will outline, there is scope for so much more research into this topic before solid claims can be made.
What autistic camouflaging is NOT
Before discussing what my current understandings of autistic camouflaging are, it is important to first outline what I currently understand is NOT autistic camouflaging. These are outlined below:
A female-only experience
The general understanding of autistic camouflaging (or masking) is that it is a series of behaviors that are used by often late-diagnosed, female-presenting individuals.
However, research has found that male-presenting individuals also camouflage, as well as those who received an autism diagnosis as a child (Samoilis & Lewis, 2026).
It is true that a large proportion of camouflaging research has focused on the experiences of late-diagnosed females. However, a lack of research into other types of autistic people does not mean they do not also experience camouflaging.
“High masking”
“High masking” is a term I have come across a lot, mostly on social media. My understanding of this term is that it is often used by late-diagnosed, female-presenting autistic individuals.
To me, this term assumes that these autistic individuals are masking more than others. My issue is that it is difficult to quantify the amount of masking someone does – how is this calculated, for instance?
I think a more accurate term for these individuals (myself included in this as a late-diagnosed autistic woman) is that we might be more “successfully able” at camouflaging.
Whilst I do not necessarily like the term successful, I think it means that some autistic people are able to come across as more neurotypical than others, but it does not necessarily mean they are camouflaging more.
Fitting in with social norms
Many people might falsely attribute any type of behavior that they use to abide by social norms to camouflaging, but I believe there are key differences.
Performing gender norms as a female-presenting person for instance, might involve altering your speech to speak softer, fake-smiling, or being courteous to others. These might feel inauthentic, but it is missing a vital component.
My understanding is that autistic camouflaging can involve fitting in with social norms, but there is an underlying neuronormative influence, meaning that social behaviors are performed to align with neurotypical standards.
However, it can be tricky to differentiate when exploring camouflaging behaviors in groups of people who also try to adhere to social norms for a variety of intersecting identities.
Social skills development
Many people learn social skills and then implement these when required, but this does not mean these skills are autistic camouflaging behaviors.
The difference is that social skills usually ease social interaction and expand one’s social repertoire without feeling burdensome.
Camouflaging, in contrast, typically feels inauthentic, can feel anxiety-provoking to use, and can be mentally and physically exhausting.
Impression management
Impression management is a social strategy used to influence how others perceive us, often driven by contextual self-presentation to gain approval or build rapport.
Autistic camouflaging, on the other hand, is understood as a coping mechanism, driven by a need for safety, to avoid negative judgment and often carries a cost, such as autistic burnout.
What autistic camouflaging is
Whilst there is often disagreement in the literature about what it means to camouflage as an autistic person, below are my current understandings of what autistic camouflaging is, based on my research:
The suppression of autism-specific authenticity
To differentiate autistic camouflaging from other impression management behaviours, the behaviours that are being suppressed must be autism-specific.
To me, this means that a behaviour such as suppressing fidgeting behaviors in professional settings may not necessarily count as autistic camouflaging, since this might just be a display of workplace etiquette that is not inauthentic.
However, suppressing fidgeting behaviors that both feel inauthentic and are in response to a fear of drawing attention to self-stimulatory (stimming) behaviors (traits of autism) might be autistic camouflaging.
Used to manage autism-specific stigma
A big motivator for autistic people to camouflage is to avoid autism-specific stigma (Pearson & Rose, 2023).
It is possible that autistic camouflaging is a response to negative attitudes towards autism that prevail across certain societies and cultures.
Since autistic people may want to avoid being stigmatised for being autistic, they might find themselves camouflaging as a way to blend in and avoid bullying and victimisation.
Used by any autistic person
From my current understanding, autistic camouflaging can be used by any autistic person, regardless of support needs.
From my experience of working with and having family members who are autistic with additional intellectual disabilities, I have noticed the many ways in which these individuals have tried to camouflage, often in response to family pressure to “behave appropriately” and education they may have had about how to behave (which, in my opinion, often feels like camouflage training).
However, for individuals with additional intellectual disabilities, they might not be able to “blend in” with non-autistic people as “successfully” as autistic people without additional intellectual disabilities.
This means they can still experience camouflaging and all the negative impacts of this, whilst still not “passing” as non-autistic.
Influenced by intersecting factors
Along the same lines as the previous point, autistic camouflaging can be influenced by many intersecting factors.
Autistic individuals who are ethnic minorities, gender non-conforming, or have additional diagnoses (for example) will likely have very different camouflaging experiences and motivations compared to someone who has a more privileged status in their society.
It is important that future research explores camouflaging experiences of those with intersecting identities to help us get a fuller understanding of camouflaging in diverse populations.
A response to neuronormative contexts
Oftentimes, the way the world works favors non-autistic ways of being, whether this be in educational settings, the workplace, or other public settings.
Consequently, autistic people may choose to conform to the neuronormative standards of the context. One researcher described camouflaging as a “burden to conform” (Boateng, 2026).
They might have an awareness of their innate differences that do not align with the social norms and have a desire to avoid being “discovered” as different, thus resulting in camouflaging.
Essential for survival
If we consider what camouflaging means outside of autism, it is used as a survival strategy – think about camouflage being worn by people in an army.
For some autistic people, camouflaging is not simply a method of trying to fit in; it is essential to survive in social contexts.
Whilst this might not always be the case for all types of camouflaging, for some it can make them feel safer to hide their autistic traits when they need to.
It is also possible that camouflaging could be a trauma response, meaning it is consciously (or automatically) used due to past traumatic experiences and to avoid further trauma.
Summary
If I have to concisely summarise what autistic camouflaging is, I would define it as:
Strategies, either conscious or automatic, which involves inauthentically modifying or suppressing autistic traits as a means to navigate known neuronormative social and contextual expectations and environments, often as a method to manage autism-specific stigma.
References
Boateng PA. Performing Neurotypicality: A Concept Explication of Autistic Masking as Strategic Identity Communication. Autism in Adulthood. 2026;0(0). doi:10.1177/25739581261495703
Pearson, A., & Rose, K. (2023). Autistic masking: Understanding identity management and the role of stigma. Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd.
Samoilis, G., & Lewis, C. (2026). ‘It’s Like a Disguise’: Camouflaging Strategies in Autistic Male Adolescents. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) Study. Neurodiversity, 4. https://doi.org/10.1177/27546330261490701
