WHAT IS MASKING? | Autism & How Masking Makes Me Feel

~~CONNECT WITH ME~~

For business purposes, email

Title: Paige Layle


Send me stuff!
Paige Hennekam
46 Kent St W.
ROYALE TOWN & COUNTRY REALTY
Lindsay, ON Canada
K9V 2Y2

Do you have a topic/ subject you want me to talk about?
If so, fill out the form below and I will have a look!

NATIVE DEODORANT REVIEW #NativePartner #Deodorant #AluminumFree

Related: autism, autism diagnosis, Paige layle, paigelayle, paigelayle tiktok, tiktok videos, autistic, autistiktok, autistok, autism spectrum disorder, Aspergers, Aspergers syndrome, autism in girls, dsm, autistic kid, autism mom, autism family, autism speaks, autism awareness, autism acceptance, ABA, ABA Therapy

[realpaigelayle]

Save 33% on your first Native Deodorant Pack-normally $36, you’ll get it for $24! Click here [LINK] and use my code PAIGELAYLE #AD

[sydneegalusha]

The worst part is that no matter how hard you mask, it’s never good enough 100% of the time. So you exhaust yourself for no reason

[olivia-jhfd]

while Paige was talking about acting I thought of this analogy:
being autistic feels like being put on stage for a play where everyone knows the play and has practiced but you've never heard of the play before and you just have to pretend to know what to do.

I also do a ton of acting :)

[spikesecho]

I struggle with my autism because in fiction, most books/movies/shows tell stories about how *everyone* feels this way, struggles to feel like everyone else, and feels "alien", and is masking, etc. Those are the stories we are told. And so, all my life, I just assumed this was common to most everyone. I still don't know how to explain my autism to someone without them going, "yeah, I'm like that too"

[kathryn.rollins]

I notice I mimic people pretty much immediately after meeting them. It makes me feel really unsettled when I notice I'm doing it because I'm like 'ahhh who am I?' but then I try to have compassion for myself and connect with myself more deeply in my own ways. It's rough man, I feel you.

[jackv]

Everyone opening this video: "oh Paiges hair has changed, looks nice"

[watchingthebees]

The alien metaphor feels really close to home for me. When I was 10, I genuinely thought I was an alien and I kept waiting for my “real parents” to come and pick me up

[WilliamAlanPhoto]

You may not realize it, but you are exceptionally lucky to know what you know at this young age. I'm 60 and JUST figuring out this (Autism) is what has been the troublemaker in my life, all my life, and I had no idea what the eff was going on. Thank you for making this video.
"I could have been a person sooner..."

[louisegreer]

You just explained to me why I love acting. My parents always thought it was weird that I loved acting because I'm very shy, but you explained it so well. There's a script to follow, you know what to say, and what to do, and you know what's coming. Unlike life, putting on a play is predictable. You do it again and again until everybody knows exactly what to say and do. You just go through the motions, without questioning every aspect of being human. Thank you for this video♥️

[kierasaurusfrost]

Being a shell of a person, just a mask with nothing underneath…that’s exactly how I feel. I cannot figure out what I actually like or who I really am. It’s sounds stupid but I think that’s why I always struggle with simple social media bios or little “describe yourself” things at school or job interviews or whatever. It when people are like “what do you like to do in your free time?” And I’m like…I have no idea

[bobbiemason]

I masked my autism for 30+ years, last year I learnt more about autism and how it can present differently in females and learnt about masking and next year I go for my diagnosis because the waiting list is years long.
I spent 30+ years feeling like I didn’t belong anywhere, like everybody just knew how to do things and I didn’t, like everybody spoke a language I didn’t, I was always exhausted and irritated but felt lazy because I couldn’t keep up with others, I felt like I was wrong all my life and now, learning about autism and sensory overload, stims, special interests, burnout and masking, I don’t feel wrong anymore. I feel ok with myself for the first time in my life.
Everything I’ve done since I was 2 and got up everyday and watched the same movie EVERYDAY for 5 years and only wanted to eat the same foods and copied what the people around me did to fit in... it all just feels ok now and that is such a great feeling to know that my existence is not wrong, I’m not wasting space, I’m not failing, my brain just works differently and I’m actually doing my best and that’s ok!

[d-bro-sector]

I am a teacher, and I often get the question how I pull that off as an autistic. It hit me as I was watching this video, the reason I can do that is that I do not need to mask in front of them. They are more open and honest than most adults, they've got their hearts on their sleeves, which makes it far easier for me to interact with them. They also find my small auti outburst hillarious, so I can turn it into a bit of a stand-up routine, all the while teaching them. As I was thinking about how to type this, you mentioned the liking kids part.

I know you don't read the comments, but in the off chance... You'd make a great teacher.

Too bad our school building is a Mondriaan-ian Nightmare, where EVERYTHING also makes noise, so I still come home completely drained, but it's not the kids.

[charlottewood]

Just out of interest, do you feel more relaxed when you speak to other autistic people? I feel so much less stressed straight away when I know that I’m talking to another autistic person. Just soooo much easier, like I can just be me and not do all the weird human shit.

[jonatdrmarlo]

56 years... 56 years is exhausting.
Thanks, for doing what you're doing.

[serenediipity]

its such a weirdly unsettling feeling to go years acting a certain way and realizing later that you never actually liked the hobbies that you had and it was just part of the mask

[LizRealGirlBeauty]

I really don't want my son to mask. I have never told him to stop or shush or anything, in public, so he stims pretty freely. He does this full body stim we call his "happy dance, " and it's exactly what it sounds like! We were in a doctor's waiting room and he was doing that. An elderly woman very loudly told him to stop and then said to me "you need to make him stop right now!" I was kind of dumbfounded, but the receptionist spoke up and told her "no, he's perfectly fine, you need to ignore him!" I was so thankful, because I hadn't yet formed a response when she spoke up!
I was in a store by myself and there was an older man who started doing a verbal stim that was very similar to my son's, and it made me smile. The woman he was with- she was elderly so maybe his mother or aunt- told him to stop "bothering everyone." I told her it's not a bother, that my son does the same thing. I doubt I changed her mind, but I think about that a lot and I feel bad for him.
I never want my son to have to do that. I know the world might be less forgiving of him if he's verbally and physically stimming and creating a disruption, but I want him to be him!

[mare]

i got my diagnosis today (I'm 26 years old) and I'm so happy and relieved! you were part of my journey, paige!! thank you so much!!!

[myguitarisorange]

I tend to have a large vocabulary and have to "dumb down" my conversations for comprehension. I find it hard to do that and my delivery is slower sometimes because I'm trying harder to think of smaller words. I'm good at reading people and body language and tend to mimic them. I also consider myself a social chameleon. "I am what you want me to be". I have a sales job, so I guess my superficial charm works in that situation but I'm burned out quick because I'm "acting" all day.

[hollowhills]

This is exactly it. I was diagnosed at 13, I’m now 29. I hide it so much now. I work with kids on the spectrum, and knowing coworkers and parents would look at me differently, I’m good at masking when it has to do with work. It sucks. Working for an Ontario school board, you’d think they’d be accepting and accommodating to someone on the spectrum, but no, they’re good at ostracizing people

[meghan]

Improv has really helped me with masking because I can say something completely off the wall and no one judges me.