It Won’t Ever Be Safe To Fully Unmask

Masking is ultimately harmful, but it’s dangerous for autistics to completely stop doing it

4 min read

1 hour ago

You may have noticed from the headline that I’m feeling rather pessimistic.

The truth is, don’t ever expect autistic people to be fully accepted by society and to be given a truly fair shake.

This feeling is shaped by my experience.

Admittedly in the context of autistic people I’m one of the lucky ones.

In the UK, where I live, only around 30% of working-age autistic people are in employment and even fewer work full time.

This is the worst employment rate of any disabled group without an intellectual impairment and compares with 53.6% of disabled people over all.

This is in the context of an 80% employment rate for non-disabled people.

So the fact that I’m autistic and gainfully employed places me among the most fortunate of my neurotype.

But this good fortune is not cost-free.

It comes at an exacting price.

A pound of flesh is routinely extracted in terms of my mental health and wellbeing.