Finding Freedom from Masking on the Autism Spectrum

For me personally I don't mask in public especially around people i know really well. It took a while for me personally but i just explain to my friends that i am on the spectrum and this is just part of me.

The first thing I will tell you is that you're probably so used to masking you will revert back into it without realizing frequently for a while. I still do it and I've been trying not to for a few years now. Pay attention to your discomfort and burn out especially in situations where you tend to feel the need to mask and start an internal dialog with yourself asking simple questions like "Am I masking?", "How am I masking?", and most importantly, "What would make me feel better right now? What would I rather be doing that would make me comfortable?". Talking myself through the situation not only helped me mask less, but made me feel more comfortable not doing it and reassured me I wasn't doing anything wrong by helping myself. It may even help to track and write down these instances, though I personally could never do that because I don't have the memory or attention span.