The consequences of “medical misogyny“ for autistic women

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Medical misogyny is causing a mental health crisis among autistic women - Glamour UK

The medical bias has been studied, confirmed, voiced for years; this has achieved no change whatever - that I can see - has not led to any apparent knowledge nor practice gains, and the diagnosing community seem now as incompetent, misinformed and dangerous as they were ten years ago. Even more so perhaps.

So why is it so hard for autistic women's voices to be heard? What has happened in the past ten years - which IS a remarkable change - is the plethora of published work, online and off, by AS women. I follow much of this work, and much of it is impressive. But what audience are they reaching? My answer to that is: autistic women.

The big question is how genuine practice protocols and awareness of AS presentation in women can be introduced meaningfully to the retraining and training of existing and future practitioners so that there is take up. Information alone is apparently not sufficient (Tony Attwood has worked hard to educate practitioners, without discernible apparent impact). I am not surprised by the reportedly high level of suicide; autistic women face multiple barriers as do AS men, but the women more of them, more frequently.

Maybe one small part of the way forward is to educate core providers of suicide services (outside of medical practice) to integrate the issues into the syllabus of every person they train/employ; such services also have meaningful access to the media - and to donors concerned with suicidal causation.

Autisitic voices are GREAT. However, as members of a disempowered, othered, group - autistic voices are denied power and ignored, treated as "noise". Change is always potentially possible; we have plenty of historical examples.

I recall corresponding with a very effective change agent a few years back, her mission was to overcome the needless deaths of women from heart attack because of medical bias. (The Blog is called "Heart Sisters"). It was a huge effort, but she did achieve meaningful change, and an inspiring educational resource for other women initially denied access to accurate, timely diagnosis of heart problems.

Maybe a targeted lobbying organisation could also be part of the way forward, lobbying media, medical schools and specific medical providers of "updating good practice" seminars to medical practitioners.

Ultimately, the solution - whatever it is - centrally relates to fundamental power relations (the giving away of, the medical misuse of) and pathways to empowerment. Change never "just happens".

I'm in a mopey mood today, so am not the Change today. Maybe other days.

I reached crisis before 20; I'm glad to be here. My female cousin reached crisis in her late 20s; I am sad she's not here to talk about it. We both sought help again and again - we were both intelligent and well-behaved - we were told to relax and figure it out.

It seems if I tell a male NT dr what I think the problem is, he will inevitably DX something else, cause me much angst and pain and then I have to find a female NP who will treat it as I said. I once had a female NT dr whom I could trust to listen and make thoughtful good medical recommendations for me. She was pushed out of her male-dominated workgroup and went into research. I am on the fence about my female primary care dr...

I so understand, SharonB. I have - like most AS women - been so traumatised by dismissal, invalidation and refusal to listen by doctors over decades that now, at the first sign of invalidation from a practitioner I go into brain freeze. The energy cost of self advocacy in this circumstance is huge. I no longer have the amount of emotional energy it requires, and part of me has withdrawn from attempted engagement to achieve better personal outcomes.

My current medical issues are serious; just coping with the pain and disability of them overwhelms my energy supply, let alone added unnecessary medical trauma. But it doesn't matter now: I'm old, frail, seriously injured, debilitated and declining, and I accept that (part of me welcomes it). I just want to believe the younger female cohorts of my family will not always have to fight the same personal battles (yet they are having to do so for now).

It breaks my heart.

I don't know that it's specific to women. I'd call it Medical Misanthropy, pertaining to all autistic people.

When I had my first stroke the ER doctor thought I was drunk or stoned on drugs because I didn't present like a normal NT patient having a stroke. He spent hours ordering toxicology screens and trying to send me home, with a very dismissive and belittling tone, instead of administering clot-busters or even doing MRI.

This was on a Tuesday afternoon and I was with a longtime friend / professional with a PhD, who could vouch that I was neither drunk nor "faking it".

The nurse who happened to have an autistic son convinced him that I was having a stroke, and demanded that I needed MRI. I heard them through the curtain. Without her, I could have died for want of anticoagulants and stroke treatment.

It’s very upsetting the degree of medical misadventures,I have had do to medical incompetence.
Am too old to fight them anymore also .. but generally am knowledgeable enough and good with language that, have got a few to hear me. But the most abuse came from the mental health industry , but several other physical issues were ignored , leading to some of my more permanent disabilities due to poor surgical procedures . But have taken a chance on a osteopath , with a good bedside manner .. and had surgery . Seems possibly to be going okay ..
But some symptoms still seem to be present , just hoping with more healing they may pass.

The misogyny in society is getting worse and more aggressive every day. There's more misogyny terrorist extremism than ever now, and something has to be done. And right now there are several male WP members reading this right now and are going to tell us why this is completely wrong.

There is a hell of a lot of misogyny amongst male health professionals. I've had far too many unpleasant experiences.

Also, some of my experiences are different as a woman of colour....I've been dismissed by white women health professionals too. Before diagnosis, I was told by a GP and CBT therapist that my Arab background is the reason for the symptoms I have (ridiculous assumptions were made, even though my parents are liberal). Autism was not even considered a possibility.

A woman GP of a similar background to mine took my concerns seriously and referred me to two diagnostic centres.

And here we are talking about Medical Mysogyny…. And what is Roe vs Wade going to do for that ? Other than
Making this kind of treatment legal .??????

I don't have any male doctors except for my OB/GYNs.

My GP, Neuro, Rheumy, OT, PT, SLP, Psychologist, and even my dentists are women. I didn't choose it that way, but there are far more women in medicine than men, where I live.

I find it difficult to communicate with all of them, even my GP who I've known for her whole life. I used to babysit her when she was little. In my case I think it's a communication block caused by my ASD. I have a hard time describing symptoms and I tend to do so much research on my own that I might frustrate them.

My daughter had an Autistic therapist for a few years and really liked her. Personally I'm having a hard time finding a PTSD psychologist who is ND. I've found a couple of them after months of searching, but they aren't taking new patients and don't even have waitlists in place.

I meant ND = Neurodiverse.

Ironically I used to have a Naturopath (ND) who is Neurodiverse (ND) (Autistic), and she used to do trauma therapy because she also had Psych credentials.

Medical professionals always seem surprised by my autism diagnosis.

I suspect most of them have so little up-to-date training on autism that they could only spot it in a child on the more severe end, and don't have a clue about presentation in adult women.

Even when my (mildly autistic, teenage) son saw a psychiatrist, the guy was quite happy to sign off on his ASD, even adding ADHD and GAD for kicks, but when I told him I was on the spectrum he clearly didn't believe me. And then had the gall to suggest I needed psychiatric treatment for mental health without doing any tests at all (!)

I count myself extremely fortunate to have found an autism expert who could do the diagnosis.

most drs are women nowadays,
i even relate lesser to them, they to me i should say,
although the male drs here operate (=work) with your popularity and the frequency of your dr-visits as determination of your honesty, what ?? what has that to do with health, and that from the drs who hold lying-stealing-etc persons as exemplairy extraordinary citizens,
oh no the same-of sorts with the new neighbor doctor, app your 'social-points' is on par with the social webs you hang out in advertisement
doctors, they stand with legion()
dr's words; i have invited everyone, but you don't 'need' to come,


beam me up scotty--