Every day, millions of neurodivergent professionals wake up and put on an invisible mask. They rehearse small talk for the elevator. They rewrite emails to sound warmer. They laugh at jokes they do not find funny. This is masking, and it comes at a staggering cost that most workplaces never see.

What Is Masking

Masking is the conscious or unconscious suppression of natural behaviours and communication patterns to conform to neurotypical social expectations. For autistic, ADHD, and other neurodivergent individuals, masking is not a choice made from preference. It is a survival strategy learned through years of social feedback that their authentic selves are not acceptable.

The Energy Tax

•  Masking uses the same cognitive resources needed for problem-solving, creativity, and focus

•  Studies suggest that neurodivergent individuals who mask heavily report significantly higher rates of burnout

•  The mental load of constant self-monitoring leaves less capacity for actual work output

•  By Friday afternoon, many maskers are running on empty with nothing left for personal life

The Workplace Impact

Masking does not just hurt the individual. It hurts the organisation.

•  Innovation suffers because people filter their ideas through a layer of social acceptability before speaking

•  Feedback loops break down when people say what they think others want to hear instead of what is true

•  Retention drops because masking is unsustainable and talented people eventually leave for environments where they can be themselves

•  Psychological safety becomes impossible when a significant portion of the team is performing rather than participating

Breaking the Cycle

The solution is not asking neurodivergent employees to mask better. It is building environments where masking is unnecessary.

•  Make communication preferences explicit through tools like Communication DNA profiles

•  Normalise different interaction styles by talking about them openly during onboarding

•  Train managers to recognise and value diverse communication rather than enforcing a single standard

•  Offer asynchronous communication options for people who think and express themselves better in writing

•  Let people share how they communicate on their own terms with profiles that act as a personal user manual

The Return on Authenticity

When people stop spending energy on translation and start spending it on contribution, the results are measurable. Teams get honest feedback sooner. Problems surface before they become crises. And people stay longer because they feel valued for who they actually are, not who they pretend to be.

The real cost of masking is not just burnout. It is all the brilliance your organisation never gets to see.