I want to talk about masking. Basically, masking is the commonly accepted term for an autistic or ADHD person pretending to behave in a way that other people expect in social situations, such as school or family events. We are pretending to be somebody we are not—pretending to be neurotypical, in a way. Because we have been judged, told that certain autistic or ADHD behaviours are not welcome in some environments, or bullied for them, we train ourselves to behave a certain way in those environments. It becomes a means of defending ourselves from looking awkward or out of place. We mask our autism and ADHD and try to behave as close to neurotypical as we can. The problem is that this is not sustainable. It is extremely exhausting and takes a great deal of energy. That is one reason I would come home from school as a child exhausted but act out even more: I had been masking all day. I wanted to be who I was and let out the stress. I would come home fussy and tired, with no patience left, and let out emotions I had held back all day. Ways to help with masking include respecting boundaries and behaviour. Especially in a family environment, reduce judgment and educate family members. Help them understand that an autistic or ADHD son or daughter may behave a certain way because of their neurodivergence. There is no need to judge them or expect a particular behaviour. It is okay for them to be themselves and not pretend to be a certain way around family. I am going to continue this in another part so I can keep these videos short.