How & Why Children Mask

𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐎𝐡, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 - 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧

One of the reasons self-diagnosing children can be misleading is because what you see isn’t always what’s going on.

🎭 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐇𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞

Children, especially those who are neurodivergent or experiencing emotional distress, often mask their true feelings or behaviours to fit in socially. This is especially common in:

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧, who may suppress stimming (self stimulatory) behaviours.

𝐀𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧, who might avoid raising their hands or freeze during group work.

𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧, who often shut down or people-please to avoid conflict

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭? Adults may completely miss signs of distress because the child seems 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆 on the surface.

𝐄𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐤

Masking is exhausting. Many children who mask during the school day,

meltdown at home (after-school restraint collapse) and parents feel overwhelmed and frustrated by this behaviour.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

A psychologist, counsellor, or trained special educator can:

🥸 Observe subtle signs across settings (school, home & play)

🥸 Conduct essential child-friendly assessments

🥸 Involve parents and teachers in supporting the child

Only with this kind of an understanding can we move from surface behaviours to root causes, and provide support that really helps.