Autistic masking and burnout
Autistic burnout can be caused by various and multiple life stressors including the need to ‘mask’ their autistic ways of being. Autistic researcher and author Kieran Rose (The Autistic Advocate) explains what is meant by masking.
While trauma and the need to mask as a coping strategy can be experienced by any child or young person, Kieran identifies the specific impacts masking has on autistic children and young people because they are a marginalised group. He emphasises the important role of professionals in promoting autistic children and young people’s positive and constructive self-identity.
Talking points
- How a multi-level pathologisation is felt by children and young people.
- What autistic masking is, what it does and how it can look different for individual children and young people.
- The ‘coca-cola effect’ as an analogy to describe how autistic children and young people can experience meltdown and shutdown in places of relative safety.
- Autistic burnout as the inability to sustain a ‘mask’ anymore.
Length: 8 minutes
Reflective questions
Consider examples from your own organisations and practice:
- Masking is a self-protective strategy, so how can we enable children and young people to be safe as themselves in the contexts they are in (e.g. education or home)?
- How could you and your organisation work with the child or young person, their parents/carers, school etc to prevent autistic burnout?
You could use these questions in a reflective session or talk to a colleague. You can save your reflections and access these in the Research in Practice Your CPD area.
Related resources
Watch
- Erin Davidson describes her autistic experience in the film ‘Walk in my shoes’ (by The Donaldson Trust)
- Young people explain meltdowns (by Ambitious about Autism).
- Young people explain shutdowns (by Ambitious about Autism).
Read
- Autism Understood’s articles which are co-produced by and are for autistic children and young people:
- Unmasking
- Autistic burnout
- Autistic burnout – what helps - Understanding Stigma in Autism: A Narrative Review and Theoretical Model.
- A Conceptual Analysis of Autistic Masking: Understanding the Narrative of Stigma and the Illusion of Choice.
- Autistic Masking: Understanding Identity Management and the Role of Stigma (by Dr Amy Pearson and Kieran Rose).
- Understanding autistic burnout (By Dr Dora Raymaker).
Part of Understanding autism to support autistic children and young people - a neurodiversity approach: Video learning resources.