The Gas-lighting of Women and Girls on the Autism Spectrum

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I believe this article is likely quite accurate and reflective of the experiences of many women on the spectrum.

It's quite interesting...unlike many females on the spectrum who completely flew under the radar, I did not. I was recognized for what I was from a young age and have had numerous evaluations, and many of the same services children on the spectrum are provided today. Yet I am still almost universally doubted when I reveal that I have AS to modern clinicians. If we had first spent some time conversing, and they had formed the opinion that I was not on the spectrum thereafter, I would understand, as I have put a significant amount of time and effort into improving my social skills and I think I have done very well, however it has always been the case that I have divulged my status at the start of the conversation, and so I must conclude that they are forming their opinion on the basis of the fact that I am female, perhaps combined with the fact that I make eye contact.

In any other care oriented field, for an individual to make such hasty judgements without regard to the client or patients history or the conclusions of professionals who have previously evaluated the client or patient, would constitue a severe transgression of care. Though we ought not be so surprised by such lacking professional practices as we are speaking of an industry which can so poorly abide by the standards of care and diagnosis that it itself defines, that rather than improve the quality of it's professional practices, it instead rewrote the DSM to lower the standards which it must meet.

I believe part of the problem driving this is, it is not particularly difficult these days to become a clinician. These are no longer professional positions in the academic sense, many of them only requiring an associate degree. While I am not implying a person with an associate degree is any less intelligent or relvantly educated in their field, the "filtration" process that previously disuaded those who are not as academically or scientifically rigorous has been remove, and as there no longer exists the competition in the field that served to maintain standards.

Perhaps this will change as recent breakthroughs have advanced or understanding of the neurology of many "psychiatric disorders" and the fields of psychiatry and psychology begin to be absorbed by neurology, and this notion of the mind as magical, intangiable concept disappears.

Perhaps someday we will be able to show scans of our brains to the world and say "This is who I am, this is how I am different, please respect those differences."









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At my first appointment last August with my new psychiatrist, he almost reversed my autism diagnosis. He said I had ASD traits, but that's as for as he would go. At the second appointment with him he asked how I felt about his write-up of me (of which I had been given a copy,) specifically regarding my autism. I insisted the the original psychiatrist's diagnosis was correct, so he questioned me a bit about relationships and feelings, etc. At the end of the second appointment he said he did consider me autistic. But that he would disregard a professional's previous diagnosis of me is disconcerting.


I think part of it comes from the belief some professionals still hold that autism can be recovered from. That if you can "pass" then problem solved, you're fine. But this is obviously not the case.

I think it's using a male model, along with the insidious notion that autism spectrum disorders have been overdiagnosed, and responsible professionals should reverse this. And the idea it's somehow helpful to undue/rewrite history so nothing was ever wrong. I think they forget many of us have pretty decent memory for past events