“High-masking” Autism and Late Diagnosis

If you’ve heard the term “high-masking” Autism in your everyday life or on social media, you may be wondering what that means. Typically when people use the term “high-masking” with regard to Autism, they’re referring to people who don’t meet a very specific standard of what society thinks Autism looks like (e.g., they are able to hold a job, have friendships, and appear “successful” in the ways that colonialism/white supremacy/the patriarchy view success). The purpose of this article is to explain what masking is, and offer it as a (partial¹) explanation of how Autism can go undetected for so long – not only to the outside world, but even to the Autistic person themselves.