In a recent discussion with a few level 1 autistics, the topic of masking in social situations came up and several of them expressed that they find it easier to make a good impression when they’re interacting with people whom they will never see again. Possibly because it is harder for allistics to detect the “oddness” from a single interaction, or perhaps some other reason.
I am interested in your thoughts, both about your own experiences and about the possible reasons for this phenomenon.
Personally, my social deficits and behaviour patterns are too pronounced for such a thing to apply to me. People notice my “oddness” right away, but after repeated interactions some come to enjoy interacting with me. I suspect that they do so in a capacity similar to how one might enjoy a character in a video game, rather than as a full person, but it’s better than being fully rejected, so I will take the small victory.
I find I do good with certain types of masking that I have heavily learned. Tech talk, Shoptalk, I can kinda do it. I can pass as allistic when I dont have to interact for very long, and when its in specific conversation topics. Second I try to actually genuinely engage with someone tho, like on an emotional level? Nah. I think people interact with me and go “nope”. Sometimes they engage. But I’m pretty withdrawn. They have to come to me. And thats a rarity. I dont want to reach out to people really, I can’t tell the difference between lots of different things so I just, idk, I dont play the game. If someone wants to be around me they can be around me. If not then we won’t be around each other.