THE STUDENT WHO SEEMS TO BE COPING: AUTISTIC CAMOUFLAGING AND LESS VISIBLE SUPPORT NEEDS IN THE INCLUSIVE SCHOOL

Abstract

School decisions regarding support can fail when the appearance of adaptation is mistaken for a complete picture of the student's experience. This study analyzes how autistic camouflaging and other discrepancies between observable presentation and support needs challenge pedagogical interpretation in inclusive schools. It is a theoretical, qualitative, bibliographic, and documentary study, conducted as a critical, problem-oriented narrative review involving targeted, non-exhaustive searches updated through August 2026. The study integrates research on camouflaging, the logic of visibility, sustainable participation, and the recognition of needs with Brazilian Special Education documents. The literature reveals that camouflaging is a heterogeneous, contextual, and non-universal phenomenon; therefore, high performance does not justify inferring masking, just as lower visibility of difficulties does not prove the absence of a need for support. The analysis argues that competence and need belong to dimensions that can coexist and proposes seven criteria to refine pedagogical decision-making: performance conditions, the effect of supports, contextual variation, absence of a request, the student's perspective, divergence between sources, and re-evaluation. The analysis indicates that more robust assessments depend on broadening information sources without pathologizing competence or turning teachers into informal identifiers of camouflaging.