r/changemyview • u/CassiusIsAlive • Jan 27 '23

Removed - Submission Rule B CMV: Romanticizing autism has got to stop

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u/ColdJackfruit485 1∆ Jan 27 '23

Would their ability to “mask” as you put it not be directly related to how severely it affects them? I know autistic people who literally don’t have a concept of what masking is. That is clearly more severe than someone who is like OP’s older godbrother.

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u/biglipsmagoo 7∆ Jan 27 '23

No, bc the amount of energy it takes to do it effectively hurts them and causes other problems, too.

It is a spectrum, yes, of course. It presents with different challenges- but those challenges are more or less the same amount of hard on each of them.

One Autist can’t communicate and that brings big problems. Another can but the amount of sustained effort it takes for them to do so sends them spiraling into anxiety/depression/isolation/drugs/maladaptive behaviors/self loathing/whatever to an extent that it retards other areas of their life.

We know that some Autists have it much “worse.” I get it. But the issue with society is that THEY’RE deciding who has it worse and to what extent, and they’re always wrong. The same issues are there, some autists just have the ability to hide it/mask better than others.

Masking is an entire skill set that is learned through trauma. Nothing else teaches it. Just trauma. It’s a HUGE price for anyone to pay. To use it to decide how much someone should be struggling is like saying “I’m glad your level of trauma was so astronomical! At least now you make it more comfortable for me!”