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People call it a social skill when an autistic adult makes the room comfortable. Camouflaging research measures something quieter: the strategies used to hide or compensate for autistic traits, and the cost of doing that work in public. This is Autism Digest’s first research brief. It stays inside published numbers. It does not offer a cure, a training program, or a new way to diagnose anyone. What masking and camouflaging are In 2017, Laura Hull and colleagues asked 92 autis

The IEP already lists them. Noise-reducing headphones. Extra time. A quiet corner for lunch. Maybe AAC. At 3:00 they are still in the backpack. Yesterday we wrote that “appears fine” is not a present level. Today is the next sentence. A support that never leaves the bag is not a support. It is a line on a PDF. Written on the IEP is not the same as used 34 CFR §300.323(d) is blunt. Each teacher and provider responsible for the IEP has to know the specific accommodations, modif

Monday morning, the IEP is already live. Not a draft for October. Not a file that lives in a cabinet. IDEA says each public agency must have an IEP in effect at the start of the school year, and that IEP has to be accessible to the teachers and providers who implement it. The starting GPS is not a grade, a score, or a hallway impression. It is present levels of academic achievement and functional performance. If that statement only records how the student “appears fine,” the

Sunday morning is a sensory event. The usher whispers. The band starts. Someone offers a hand you did not ask for. You make it to the car and someone says, “We tried.” That sentence is not a failure of faith. It is a report on the room. The sanctuary was not designed as a sensory plan Lights stay up. Music does not drop. Incense or a neighbor’s perfume does not wait. A greeting expects eye contact. A body is told when to stand. The Autism Faith Network’s 2026 toolkit names th