I highly doubt a therapist said this. How you treat other people, and their well being, is something everyone should keep in mind. Otherwise you're a psychopath, not autistic.
this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2026
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It’s not saying to be a jerk to people.
“Masking” is when a person with autism hides associated mannerisms in order to blend in with neurotypical people (make themselves “more palatable”), such as avoiding hand stims or atypical (but still healthy) reactions of enthusiasm.
“Unmasking” doesn’t mean giving up anything you do to be considerate of others (such as not giving unsolicited 15 minute rants about my hyper fixations); it just means not trying to pretend to be a neurotypical person, consciously or subconsciously, and to just be your authentic self, autistic self.
Speaking as a therapist.. Seriously... I'd say it in the right context... Its not a binary thing, caring what other people think.
Of course it matters, and sometimes it really hurts someone when they're caught between who they are and who they believe they should be.
So if the client had made unmasking a therapeutic goal and I knew they identified with Spock it might be a fun way to encourage them not to negotiate on points that are entirely their choice.
Tell me you don't understand "masking" without using those words. 🤌🏼
HEAVILY depends on what “masking” is in this particular circumstance
It says right in the meme "a lot of my masking is just making myself more palatable for other people"
Isn't Data's whole identity based around making himself more palatable?
I think it's more about learning to be human. He imitates other people and their mannerism not because they find his nature inconvenient, but because he think that by imitating them he can understand.
Other way around, his mandate is to emulate humans, so he seeks to understand so that he may do so better, even while lacking emotions.
Not a lack of emotion, but a learned habit of suppressed emotions, which is why it works for masking.
“Act more like this fictional character” said no decent therapist, ever.
Implying Spock is fictional
This is funny but I'm not sure how logical (🫣) it is. Is Spock autistic? He's just..(half)Vulcan? Doing Vulcan things. Any autistic traits he demonstrates would be kind of projection wouldn't it? That said, I understand allegory exists but I doubt this sort of thing would have been intentional by Gene Roddenberry. (I'm very fun at parties 😆)
I feel like if anyone was possibly an autist it was Odo. The man struggled so much with human emotions and expressions he literally couldn't make a believable human face. Instead of masking he just did his thing.
Which Spock? A big part of Spock's character development post TOS was starting to be more himself and less what others expected him to be.
If Spock never masks, why does he act so different in ‘The Cage’ huh?
And again in "The Menagerie"!
Because he unmasked after "The Cage"...