When autism is more obvious in some than others!

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I'm sure it has as knowledge has increased in all areas.

I'm male and I've been told that I hide my autism quite well, though it's hard for me to know how I do it, because I think I was "hiding" it long before I was diagnosed.

I suppose part of the reason is that I probably don't have very strong ASD. And I noticed things about my social behaviour that I could see weren't likely to make me popular, e.g. a rather monotonous and mumbly voice which I heard on tape recordings and disliked, and therefore worked on giving it a more attractive and easy-to-follow intonation. Also I noticed I had a bad habit of data-dumping, so I worked on tempering that, as it seemed obvious that it would bore people just like it bored me when anybody banged on about some topic I had no particular interest in. I never saw any of this as hiding anything, just the natural result of wanting to become a more acceptable person, of wanting to learn and grow.

But I don't know how those examples would lead to any particular theory. I guess I just happen to have enough neurotypicality to be able to get the occasional glimpse of what I'm doing wrong.

I've been told by some that they already clocked me as autistic. Mostly when I was younger, before I learned the social skills I have now, I think.
These days? Well, one of my coworkers said she can hardly tell I'm autistic and can autism really be that mild, etc. I said yes, it can, especially when we get older and learn how to hide things better.


Autism isn't obvious in some people simply because the traits are broad and varied and range from mild to severe. For me, I've learned a lot of social skills to compensate for my shortcomings. I'm still a bit socially odd and I've been told I'm quirky. But I "pass" as neurotypical fairly easily at this point in my life.

My other traits have become more mild with age as well. I used to have extreme hyperfixations.... these days I'm just a bit more obsessive than most people. It's to a lesser degree.

My stimming may look odd, but most people aren't going to clock you as autistic just based on that.

And people tend to not believe me when I say I have sensory issues and meltdowns.

It's because autism is a spectrum. We're all different.

This is a very good question. Would make a god research topic

In my experience I can say it is how strong is your need to fit in and how much you care about how others see you and the desire to fill in the gaps.