Masking & Pretending 2 Be Autistic

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Hi All,

I was having a convo with my dad who is also on the spectrum where we both discovered that not only do we mask in order to seem normal in some occasions, we also pretend to be autistic in situations we don't want to deal with.

I caught myself putting on an "autistic face" and just stay in silence when my autism counselor was talking about political topics and I didn't want to communicate w her. My dad pretends to be autistic in front of my mom when she nags him.

Just a line of thought that I found funny, if you guys have experienced the same, this really means we have our own EQ but it just operates in a different way

I don't really play up my autism at all, but if I don't want to talk to someone (who doesn't know me very well) I just don't mask and I'll pretend to not get certain things that I can understand so they just ignore me. There are certain people that I don't care if they think I'm stupid, and if it'll get them to not bother me I'll just let them think that.

I think I did this in school sometimes when there were substitutes. I just didn't mask so they'd ignore me and not get mad at me over my school work.

Haha. I can do an acting thick face but I do not have a clue what an autistic face actually is!

I didn't know there was an autistic face until now.

I do.

Except I don't have to mask. I don't have to 'act' autistic. And I don't have to let others know what autism even is.

Only being "predictable" and make out of things others assumes about me.


I kinda understand how that type of EQ works.

In my case the mindset is the near opposite of worrying of what others may think -- but more about using what others may think against them.

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I sort of “blank out” sometimes, sort of like a mini-shutdown, but I don’t do that on purpose. If someone’s droning on about something I don’t care about like politics, I just let them talk and occasionally nod or say “uh-huh” if they seem to want me to, but I don’t really think I’m actually pretending to be (more) autistic or anything. I kind of shrug awkwardly if I don’t want to or can’t answer a question, and will just repeat the gesture with more emphasis if pressed, but again, that’s something I always do. Although sometimes I do seem to be “more autistic” than others, but it’s not a conscious choice.

I have never pretended to be autistic, but I have pretended to have other neurological disorders. Like when I was in college there was this girl with dyspraxia, and her hands often shook when she was doing something, thus making her clumsy. For some reason it fascinated me and I decided to pretend I was dyspraxic too. But it kind of backfired when I "clumsily" stacked a chair on top of other stacked chairs and it fell and almost hit the tutor. She yelled at me in front of everyone "THAT NEARLY HIT ME! YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER ABOUT SAFETY, AS WE WERE LEARNING ABOUT SAFETY LAST WEEK!!"
Oops.

It’s useless to “pretend you’re autistic.”

You don’t get “disabled” permits for autism, usually, in the US.