Christine McGuinness found out she was autistic in 2021, at the age of 33, after her children had already been diagnosed. Since then she has become one of the most visible autistic women in the UK, and she talks about the parts of autism that rarely make it onto daytime TV: meltdowns, and the tiring work of masking.
Her BBC One documentary, Christine McGuinness: Unmasking My Autism, looked at why so many autistic women and girls go unidentified for years. She has also used social media to explain what a meltdown feels like from the inside. Here is what those two things mean, and why they matter well beyond celebrity interviews.
What a meltdown is, and what it isn’t
A meltdown is not a tantrum. The National Autistic Society describes a meltdown as an intense response to an overwhelming situation, where the person temporarily loses control of their behaviour. It can involve shouting, crying or a physical reaction.
The trigger is usually a build-up rather than one single thing. Noise, bright light, crowds, a sudden change of plan, or a whole day spent working hard to keep up socially can all add to it. By the time a meltdown happens, the person’s capacity has run out. Nobody chooses it and nobody uses it to get their own way.
For anyone close to an autistic person, the useful questions are practical. What was building up beforehand? What in the environment could have been different? Reducing that load does far more than telling someone to calm down.
Masking and why it costs so much
Masking, sometimes called camouflaging, means hiding or toning down autistic traits to come across as non-autistic. That might mean forcing eye contact, rehearsing small talk, copying other people’s expressions, or sitting through painful noise without saying a word. The National Autistic Society notes that masking can harm mental health, sense of identity and access to diagnosis.
Many autistic women describe masking for so long that they did not realise they were doing it. That is one reason so many are identified in adulthood, as Christine was. Our guide to autism in women looks at why the signs are so often missed.
Why people mask in the first place
Masking is a sensible response to an environment that punishes difference. If being yourself gets you labelled rude, odd or difficult, you learn to perform. The problem sits with the expectations, not with the person trying to meet them.
This is the social model of disability in practice. Change the environment and the need to mask drops. Keep asking someone to pretend and the cost keeps rising, often ending in exhaustion or burnout.
What this means at work
Work is one of the places people mask hardest, because a job and an income are at stake. An employee who seems fine in every meeting may be spending a huge amount of energy keeping it that way. Our article on supporting high-masking neurodivergent employees sets out what managers can look out for and what to change.
Some of the most useful changes cost almost nothing:
- a quiet room people can use without having to explain why (here is why every office needs a quiet area)
- agendas and questions shared before meetings
- cameras optional on video calls
- written instructions alongside spoken ones
- a manager who asks about working preferences and acts on the answers
None of this needs a diagnosis or a disclosure. It simply makes work easier for more people. Our guide to autism in the workplace covers more, including how this links to an employer’s legal duty to make reasonable adjustments.
Why talking openly helps
When someone well known describes a meltdown or explains masking in plain terms, it gives other autistic adults words for something they may have felt for years. It also shows colleagues, managers and family members what they may have been missing. Christine’s openness has done that for a lot of people.
How Enna can help
If you want your organisation to be a place where people don’t have to mask to get through the day, start with the people who manage them. Our Neurodiversity Deep Dive workshop covers masking, sensory needs and communication differences in depth, and our workplace needs assessments give individual employees adjustments that fit how they actually work. Book a call with our team to talk through where to start.
Autistic and looking for an employer that understands? Have a look at the roles on our neurodivergent jobs board.
