How do I know if my child is masking?

Trust your instincts - that’s what our guests tell parents in this video. You know when your child is not OK, even if their school has not picked up on the signs.
All children are different, but if they change character when they go from school to home, or go into meltdown, or appear exhausted, it might be a sign that they are masking in public.
Sometimes there are smaller clues. They may use self-regulating strategies to decompress when they get home, or show their distress in subtle ways at school.
Parents should give them acceptance and a safe space at home, and advocate for them at school. But that can be difficult, and it’s up to education professionals too to understand and be alert to the signs of masking and distress.

[@NM-dt6zt]

Thanks for this, lots of useful information. So true, I had a SEN teacher tell me that my daughter is fine and she shows no signs of being stressed or struggling academically.I explained she is masking it but they are so ignorant.Yes we need more empathy from professionals it’s lacking massively! Trying my best to advocate for my daughter. Ha ha Tasmanian devil 😆
I wish you could visit our school! Keep up the good work! Xxxx ❤️

[@RoseCKIW]

I'm trying to figure out if it's possible to have autism but be able to make eye contact most of the time. Does anyone have any information about that? I feel like if all autistic people couldn't make eye contact, it would be impossible to miss spotting so many autistic people till adulthood. Can anyone offer some clarity on that?

[@Person-ef4xj]

I found even as a child that it was sometimes hard to break eye contact sometimes for me as I would tend to stare at people's eyes and study their features closely but was diagnosed with autism at around 6 or 7. So I feel like intense staring can be an overlooked sign of autism in childhood.