Social Camouflage in Autism: An Analysis of Decision Making

Abstract

The practice of social camouflage, or the modification of one’s behaviors to be better perceived by others in one’s environment, is an old one. Recently, it has received much interest as it pertains to people on the autism spectrum. The autism literature includes explorations of how social camouflage should be defined, why it occurs (e.g., the societal pressures that give rise to it), and its impacts on quality of life and mental health. In this article we complement this work with a conceptual model focusing on reflective cognitive aspects, which provides a social analysis of how social camouflage takes place, with respect to personal costs and potential social gains. This model is informed both by autistic lived experience (M.G.) and current research findings. We hope that this model can serve as a tool to empower people on the autism spectrum when reflecting on every day social decision making and that it will spark further research to understand the details of autistic social camouflage, which can, in turn, be used to refine the model.

Community Brief

Why is this topic important?

Masking, or changing behavior to be better perceived by others in one’s environment, is a common experience in the autism community. In research masking has been called social camouflage, and recent work on autism has explored how to define it and why it happens. Researchers have found that masking has important impacts on quality of life and mental health.

What was the purpose of this article?

To complement what is known about social camouflage in autism, we wanted to understand the process that may lead an autistic person to decide to camouflage or not in a particular situation.

What do the authors present?

We propose a model of how the autistic social camouflage process takes place. We outline a decision-making process that takes into account both personal costs and potential social gains. We also discuss aspects of social camouflage and its impacts that may be shared with other minority groups versus unique to autism. We conclude by discussing possible practical uses of the model.

How will this model help autistic adults now and in the future?

By outlining the decision-making process involved, this model may help autistic people to know when to use social camouflage for positive impact and when not to in order to limit its negative impacts. The model can be personalized and further developed, making it a practical tool to support mental health. Making this complex process more transparent may also increase sensitivity in non-autistics about pressures to camouflage and ultimately lead to increased belonging.