Autism in Tech, Episode 3

Opening Scene

Imagine walking into every meeting doubting whether your colleagues understand the unspoken rules—tone, wit, sarcasm, even pacing. Now imagine doing that while also trying to hide fatigue, social overwhelm, and the “mask” you put on every day.

For many autistic tech professionals, communication doesn’t just happen spontaneously. It’s a performance, a constantly calibrated act of translation between their natural self and what the room expects.

This episode explores what it means to communicate twice: one version for the self, another for the “others.” We’ll zoom in on code-switching, masking, and how collaboration often hinges not just on skills, but on performing “norms.”

What Research Tells Us

• Code-Switching & Masking: Numerous studies show autistic individuals adapt their speech, mannerisms, expressions in social or professional contexts to fit into neurotypical expectations. This is often called masking or camouflaging. It helps in “high-stakes” interactions, but comes with mental and emotional costs.
• Emotional toll & burnout: Camouflaging has been linked with increased stress, anxiety and decreased mental health. Constantly monitoring one’s behavior, language, emotional tone takes energy.
• Multilingual / bilingual code-switching: For those who grow up speaking more than one language, there’s research about how autistic people use code-switching (between languages or communication styles). Sometimes it’s a resource; sometimes it feels like obligation. A scoping review shows code-switching in neurodivergent populations is seldom studied rigorously enough, but growing.

Real Voices

From stories like Véronique’s, we hear:

“It won’t be obvious I’m autistic from my voice or appearance—unless I’m tired. But all the masks, the small corrections, the self-editing… they build up.”

“I need very clear information. No one saying ‘that thing over there.’ I’m always trying to decode. Always trying not to make a mistake.”

These reflections reveal:

• Hidden effort (“mask fatigue”)
• High self-awareness of what is expected socially
• Deep cognitive load not just from the work, but from how to show up

Code-Switching vs Masking: What’s the Difference?

Feature	Masking / Camouflaging	Code-Switching
Definition	Hiding or suppressing neurodivergent traits to appear “typical”	Switching between different communication styles or social codes depending on context
Intent	Often subconscious; driven by pressure to fit in or avoid harm	Usually conscious and situational; based on social context or audience
Emotional Cost	High — leads to fatigue, anxiety, burnout, identity erosion	Moderate to high — depending on how often and deeply it’s required
Communication Code Used	Adapting tone, facial expressions, eye contact, body language, reaction speed	Switching between formal/informal speech, literal/figurative language, cultural styles, tone and context awareness
Risk	Misunderstandings if the mask slips; burnout from sustained performance	Miscommunication if the code switch is missed or misjudged
Example in Tech	Pretending to understand sarcasm in a team meeting; mimicking small talk before stand-up	Using different Slack tones with leadership vs. dev peers; adjusting terminology depending on audience (e.g., “UX debt” vs. “user feedback issues”)

How Collaboration Gets Complicated

Some common scenarios that add friction:

• Meetings without agendas → guessing what’s expected
• Ambiguity in tone or directions (e.g. “handle this by end of day”)
• Feedback delivered in vague or indirect ways (“you know…” or “maybe…”), leaving room for misinterpretation
• Social expectations (small talk, jokes) that differ greatly in style

Even teams that mean well may assume everyone interprets social cues in the same way—they often don’t.

What Leaders and Teams Can Do

To reduce the hidden burden—and build more authentic collaboration:

1. Set clear communication norms
   • Written agendas
   • Expectations in feedback
   • Clarity in who, what, when, how
2. Normalize different styles of communication
   • Encourage clarity over “polished small talk”
   • Allow asynchronous updates
   • Use multiple modes (chat, email, video) so people can choose what works best
3. Recognize and value code-switching / masking
   • Acknowledge it’s happening
   • Ask directly: “How can I make this meeting more comfortable?”
4. Build rest & recovery into workflows
   • Allow for “masking breaks”
   • Avoid back-to-back meetings
   • Provide spaces (physical or virtual) to decompress

Research & Resources

• Ableism, Code‑Switching, and Camouflaging: A Letter to the Editor — discusses how masking is taught or implicitly expected, and the consequences. ASHA Publications
• Code‑switching by individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions: A scoping review — surveys what is known about code-switching in autism, bilingualism, developmental language disorder. ResearchGate
• “The Cost & Gift of Code Switching” — Jenny Smith (Substack) — reflections from autistic people about how they code-switch, what they lose, what they gain. jennysmith.substack.com

Reflection

It’s not just about making tech accessible—it’s about making communication inclusive. When we expect everyone to adapt to one mold, we waste brilliance, increase stress, and build in bias.

In my own UX work, I’ve seen that the single best thing I can do for team clarity is ask one question before every meeting: “How would you prefer to communicate this?