"Autistic Girls Are Undiagnosed, Underserved and....

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...Misunderstood"

http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillin ... nderstood/

Very good link and an interesting read. So pertinent to several of the issues spectrum women almost universally experience (and possibly some take it for 'normal' and some seem not even to notice the dynamics of these attitudes and oversights, the negative language used by 'experts') and the impact of female who are on the spectrum.

In my personal experience with young ASD very intelligent and aware young women, there seems to be a much higher incidence of cutting, eating disorders and despair than NT young women of the same age. Underlying this is the failure of professionals to get real about the differences presented by ASD women. That failure compounds the problem.

Meantime, the suffering goes on. It hurts me deeply to observe this needless waste of female potential. The article offers some hope of change, in a small way. I hope that snowballs into mainstream awareness.

Is there really any evidence that the world needs any more human potential, be it male or female, neurotypical or not? If it goes to waste, it's probably because there's no demand for it. The world is vey crowded.

The article seems to be talking about PDA, which, as it's a new diagnosis it's obviously going to take a while before it's properly understood. I imagine there's far less resources for it than other forms of autism.

Nobody's a waste in my book---unless they do criminal things to harm other people.

Or unless they preclude themselves from being decent to people because of some need to take some philosophical stance.

That's a ridiculous argument. By nurturing everyone's potential we pave the way for unexpected benefits. There's always demand for contribution.
Honestly, the nihilism and misogyny on this site are getting to me. I'm not sure visiting here is worth it.

I understand. The nihilism, trivial or sometimes cruel sniping etc really got to me by June this year (a critical mass effect by then I guess, accruing over time) and I took a break until September. Intend to take another fairly soon too. It was very beneficial to have time away from that and refreshed my energy somewhat.

I accidentally started a thread on this same topic before I noticed this one
my thread
I put it in the women's section because I wanted to hear about women's experiences. Instead I get one guy telling me autistics in general are overlooked (duh,) and another telling me something about robots. And when I found this thread I was disappointed that it too has been burrowed into by complaining males. Spiderpig has basically said on a support forum in the women's section that autistic women aren't worth bothering with. Honestly, are they deliberately trying to derail these threads?

It is so annoying when that happens. I rarely post in the Women's section for precisely that reason - the disrespect shown to women there by a significant number of male posters. My life is full enough without having to contend with blasts of misogyny, sexism, and these attempts to undermine women members of WP. I will read your thread.

I'm just flabbergasted. Can you imagine the moderators' reaction if I were to say that autistic men are not valuable to society. They wouldn't miss that one.

I take your point. I would add that even women (because they are socialised from birth in a climate and culture that accepts this as "normal") internalise misogyny without conscious awareness, and that is why a female moderator (for example, this is not about any moderator specifically, please don't misunderstand that) might not recognise the sexism in one of those situations yet come down hard on the opposite (as you cited).

I get that guys, especially autistic guys, have a hard time, but I don't get the hostility to women.

And that's just the girls. Even more so for adult women.

From what I have seen here, I think that the phenomenon you identify is real, though I wonder how widespread it is - for instance what proportion of the male membership would make or support those blatantly misogynist comments? Obviously some do. Obviously a minority.

Which leads to the ensuing question: why does this small group of autistic men wish to dump hostility on autistic women? What principally motivates them to do that? Do they overtly dump hostility on all women, or only autistic women? Are they personally feeling so disempowered that they are looking for targets which they perceive as even more disempowered than themselves? Is this toxic behaviour a form of the pecking order phenomenon, expressed in the context of, and reinforced by, misogynist beliefs?

And do we tolerate it too much, in terms of moderation on WP? How could it be better moderated? Would that make WP a safer place for women members?

That's so true. A lot of the male doctors I have seen have seemed far more concerned about reassuring me that nothing is wrong, rather than trying to learn more about what's going on with me.


That's what it feels like...a pecking order. Like they feel whatever, so they kick us.

The women members on WP need to collectively act to change this, and make their objections known collectively to Alex and the moderators. If there is a sufficient number of women members, all acting together on this issue, then I think progress could be made. It could be done by drafting an overall mission statement, then women members putting their names to it if they support it, on a thread dedicated to female members only, in the forum where the moderators now go to respond to members' issues.

If we leave it to the status quo, nothing will change. Personally, I would like to see change in this area.