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high-masking

prejudice self-image society
by
Weirdly Successful
Weirdly Successful (author)  

First published: 28 June, 2023 | Last edited: 12 January, 2026 || 📚🕒 Reading Time: < 1 minute ||

High-masking refers to a person who is able to mask so efficiently that they ‘pass’ as neurotypical. High-masking is often one of the reasons women go undiagnosed – unfortunately, many assessors completely ignore masking and dismiss the experience of the individual.

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Related Terms

internalised ableism

Internalised ableism is a psychological construct that refers to the internalisation of negative beliefs, stereotypes, and prejudices about disabilities that are prevalent in society. It involves self-stigmatization and the development of a negative self-concept based on one's disability and onboarding negative beliefs said to us by parental figures, teachers, grown-ups and society in general.

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thoughts
masking

Masking is a partly unconscious effort to hide or suppress the manifestations of your neurodivergence. It is an exhausting process that many of us do to "fit in" more. Many people start to mask to avoid abuse, discrimination, bullying, harm and ableism.

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justice sensitivity

Justice sensitivity is the heightened awareness of rule violations and inconsistencies, paired with an intense emotional and physiological response. For many neurodivergent people, fairness and consistency function as essential navigational tools when you can't reliably read social cues or predict what will happen next. When rules are applied inconsistently or stated expectations don't match actual consequences, your nervous system registers this as a genuine threat to your ability to navigate the world safely. The intensity of your reaction reflects the pattern violation itself, regardless of the moral weight of the situation. Justice sensitivity is morally neutral—it tells you when a rule has been violated, but not whether the rule was good or fair in the first place.

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communication emotions thoughts
double empathy

The double empathy problem is a concept in neurodiversity studies that suggests a mutual misunderstanding between neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals.

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spiritual bypassing

Spiritual bypassing is a dismissive behaviour, meaning the use of spiritual explanations to dismiss, diminish or avoid dealing with complicated emotions, uncomfortable experiences or facing the complex and often harsh realities of life. It's part magical thinking and part toxic positivity.

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ableism

Ableism is discrimination and social prejudice against people with physical or mental disabilities. In an ableist society, it’s assumed that the “normal” way to live is as a non-disabled person and that every disabled person needs to or wants to “get rid of” their condition.

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  • Weirdly Successful

    Weirdly Successful

    A 100% neurodivergent team — Adam Dobay, Livia Farkas and Nora Selmeczi — bringing together lived experience, adult education expertise, clinical training and NHS co-production to create friendly, science-backed resources that help neurodivergent adults figure out what actually works for them

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