@hopeful33250 Teresa, I for one, am grateful that you ask. It means a lot that someone wants to try to understand "how we tick". Speaking from my own corner, for me masking is putting on a front of interaction with others, making all attempts to fit in and "be like a neurotypical". Tamping down the stimuli of crowds/smells/sounds, working hard to not retreat in to my safe spot when in groups. Shopping at 6AM when it is less crowded. As @sirgalahad mentioned, I have our young cat to distract me, my Zentangle/crochet/quilting/journaling to assist in recharging me, and focusing on these help keep me from wigging out. Hope this helps, Ginger

we mask or pull back to a point where we either stim or repetively move or to do aparticular task with our dolls to give us some quiet and semblance of order .when we are overwhelmed by noise fruxtrations being ignored , girls more than boys mask to be accepted by family and not draw attention to ourselves ,or when we are rejected and constantly bullied we then mask or behave in a certain way tobe accepted until; we are bullied and we explode .maskingbrings us comfort and not to stand out when we are undiagnosed or when in my case my father hated having a disabled son due tobthe fact as an major in the british army it affected him socially and his persona .I always masked with my sisters and then they denied I was autistic even after I was diagnosed by prof ian hickey brain and mind institute at Sydney university clinical psychologist