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Abstract: The topic of camouflaging, masking, and compensatory behaviors as it relates to als diagnosed with spectrum disorder has seen increasing discussions both in the peer reviewed literature and at professional conferences. Some professionals claim there is a link between those autistics/ individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder who received behavioral intervention and demonstrating camouflaging, masking, and compensatory behaviors. The purpose of this literature review was to evaluate the current state of experimental and non-experimental research on camouflaging, masking, and compensatory behaviors as it relates to autistics/individuals diagnosed with ASD. Additionally, the researchers evaluated the link between behavioral intervention and camouflaging, masking, and compensatory behaviors for autistics/ individuals diagnosed with ASD. Future directions both in terms ofclinical practice and research are discussed in this paper.
Recently there has been an increase in the number of publications discussing camouflaging, masking, and compensatory behaviors as it relates to autistics/individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Baldwin & Costley, 2016; Beck et al., 2020; Cage et al., 2016a; Elmose, 2020; Hull et al., 2019; Lai et al., 2019; Perry et al., 2021; Ratto et al., 2018; Wood-Downie et al., 2021). A general definition used to define camouflaging is "the use of strategies by autistic people to minimize the visibility of their autism during social situations" (Hull et al., 2019, p. 819), whereas masking "describes regulation (increasing or decreasing) of social behaviors in order to lessen the surface appearance of ASD symptoms" (Corbett et al., 2021, p. 128). Finally, compensatory behaviors are defined as "the processes contributing to improved [behavior] presentation of a neurodevelopmental disorder, despite persisting core deficit(s) at cognitive and/or neurobiological levels" (Livingston & Happe, 2017, p. 731). Given the similarity across the aforementioned definitions, it is not surprising that there is much overlap in usage between camouflaging, masking, and compensatory behaviors. Examples of camouflaging, masking, and compensatory behaviors include: (a) engaging in eye contact; (b) adjusting your face to appear relaxed; (c) using scripts in social situations; or (d) repeating others' tone of voice (see Hull et al., 2019, for a comprehensive list of specific behaviors in the three domains). Despite the overlap among camouflaging, masking, and compensatory behaviors, Hull and colleagues (2019) conceptualized that compensation and masking fell under the umbrella of camouflaging.
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