Understanding Masking and Authentic Living in Neurodivergence

Masking is a common experience for many neurodivergent people. It involves adapting, suppressing or changing aspects of ourselves to navigate social expectations, fit in, avoid criticism or manage everyday demands. While masking often develops as an understandable and adaptive response to our environments, it can also come at a significant personal cost over time.

This interactive two-hour workshop explores masking through a functional contextual and neurodiversity-affirming perspective. Together, we will examine why masking develops, the contexts that shape it, and how it can become a valuable strategy in some situations while contributing to exhaustion, anxiety, burnout, identity confusion and reduced wellbeing in others.

The workshop also focuses on practical strategies for living more authentically without suggesting that masking is simply "good" or "bad." Participants will learn ways to better regulate social energy, understand their own neurodivergent needs, establish healthy boundaries, challenge unhelpful perfectionism and people-pleasing, and develop greater psychological flexibility…