August 11, 2026

When Survival Looks Like Smiling: Black Women, Autism, and the Cost of Layered Masking

There are many ways to disappear without ever leaving the room. Sometimes it looks like smiling when your nervous system is overwhelmed. Sometimes it looks like rehearsing every conversation before it happens or replaying every interaction after it ends. It can sound like saying, ā€œI’m fine,ā€ because explaining what is […]