Autism Versus Aspergers And Masking Question.

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I'm officially diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and I've always have been mild/high-functioning. In fact I am the textbook example of a high-functioning Aspie - in the subject of functioning that is, otherwise I am a rather complex Aspie with very little obvious or stereotypical traits.

I've always heard that people with Asperger's aren't socially clueless, just socially awkward. They're only a few years behind their peers socially but then they may catch up and may go on to live independent lives with very little support. I also heard that Aspie children are rather sociable and don't always display obvious ASD behaviours, and they can use correct facial expressions and tone of voice when communicating.

I'm not saying that's a rule among Asperger's people, as some with Asperger's might not fit that description, but it makes sense to me and every time I've read or seen documentaries about people with Asperger's they have always fitted that description.

I was dxed with Asperger's this year, but have little memory of consciously masking. It could be though that I masked , but it just didn't register with me that I was doing so .

I masked in two ways. Manually and automatically. Automatic masking started off as manual masking, and was learned and practiced so often that it became automatic. It was often a gradual process and this was done to prevent being told off... I mean... If I was tapping my foot in a stimming way... I would be told off and I would go through a process of monitering myself for a few days to a few weeks watching my every move, so I would not get told off... Until finally I had automatically masked the stimming which would often transfer to a different but more subtle hidden stim .

I manually stimmed by introducing a whole act which I kept up for as long as I could. I acted thick using a sense of humour with it. The reason why I developed this mask was that I found it was a way to connect with people.