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Diagnosis for Women

vinny

Hi,

I was born female, so as a result my autism presents differently than it would a male. I understand that women go under diagnosed in comparison to men, and I'm worried that because of this when I do go to a diagnosis assessment, I'll be diagnosed incorrectly. Does anybody have any experience with this? Will the person assessing me be aware of the way autism presents in men vs women?

Parents

  • From the little I've read on this topic, my understanding is that ASD is more prevalent in males (although this could be due to a smaller proportion of autistic females being clinically identified in studies). I have read that many researchers believe that females present the autistic phenotype differently than males. I don't know any autistic females, so I would not know. I'm curious to know more. Do you have any examples of the differences autism presents in men and women? 

Reply

  • From the little I've read on this topic, my understanding is that ASD is more prevalent in males (although this could be due to a smaller proportion of autistic females being clinically identified in studies). I have read that many researchers believe that females present the autistic phenotype differently than males. I don't know any autistic females, so I would not know. I'm curious to know more. Do you have any examples of the differences autism presents in men and women? 

Children
  • in reply to ☕Tassimo ☕

    I would agree, I think since many autism studies over the years have been on young boys and men, i think it's harder for females to get a diagnosis since it presents itself slightly differently. 

    The main differences I have learnt of are:

    - special subjects/fixations tend to be centred around pop culture. bands/actors/films/tv shows/celebrities. whereas boys may know lots of facts about nature perhaps, a lot of girls fixate on their celebrity crush and learn everything there is to know about them. this can also make it hard to get a diagnosis as this is usually seen as 'normal' behaviour for girls, but it depends on the intensity and time put into the subject.

    - girls seem to be a lot better at 'masking'. a lot of us are made very aware of social norms for girls in childhood, we are often told to be extra polite, look people in the eyes, don't be too dramatic, etc. obviously boys are taught this as well however girls are perhaps more anxious and maybe are too scared to unmask in public, so they can seem normal someone who isnt educated on autism.

    - girls can be more emotional and emotionally aware than boys. they tend to be over emotional when autism is present, more prone to meltdowns and crying fits. 

    this is of course just the tip of the iceberg

    there is some info here: Samantha Craft's Unofficial Checklist: Females and Autism / Aspergers | The Art of Autism (the-art-of-autism.com)