Dropping the mask: It takes two

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 camouflaging. Autistic people felt that having self-awareness and acceptance of their own social needs and being around autistic and nonautistic people who were accepting and understanding helped them to socialise in authentic-feeling ways. Autistic people also spoke about communication behaviours they felt nonautistic people should use to help overcome misunderstandings and create autism-friendly social environments. These findings suggest it is helpful for autistic people to have access to supportive and accepting social environments in which they feel able to socialise in ways that feel authentic to them. In creating such social environments, it is important to focus on nonautistic people's knowledge and attitude towards autistic people and also their ability to use helpful communication behaviours.