Is this an accurate article on Women and Aspergers?

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http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2018/08/2 ... -syndrome/

Thoughts?

I relate to this part:

In my case, in all articles and lists about female aspies I've come across so far, I barely fit almost any bill.

Got like 3.5+/- out of 10++ or so depending what kind or how many traits are claimed to be enumerated. The article's no different.

But if I were to gauge the article base on accounts of many I've encountered so far; I'd say around less than 8.5 out of 12 or so.

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All I had to read was the name Penelope Trunk. People, she is not an expert in psychology or psychiatry or even workplace dynamics. She just acts as if she is. Everything she writes is just her personal impression, and much of it is wrong.

Penelope Trunk is a sham.

There are females who present with the "female" presentation of autism/Aspergers.

There are also females who present with the more "conventional" presentation.

Standing out from the other girls.

I always felt more comfortable with boys than girls (my brother, his friends, my father and grandfather, one male cousin), but like others have said, I wasn't necessarily "similar" to the boys. I didn't know how to do the things they did and I didn't have the same interests. I didn't do machinery or cars like all the guys did in my family. I didn't like race tracks. I wasn't a tomboy, but I wasn't a girly girl either. I was just a person who loved to read, rather like I was just a mind and not a body or gender at all.

I found boys easier to understand. Women and girls were too complex and judgemental. They were often superficial. I didn't like the feeling that there were unwritten expectations for me from females, or that they said things they didn't mean.

Good at math.
I did do quite well at math. I excelled in most areas that didn't involve 3D or spatial thinking. Regardless I was never a "math type" and I identified more as a "book nerd" because I loved literature and languages.

Anxiety disorder.
I camouflaged when I was younger but yes. Now I have Complex PTSD (a severe stress disorder) as well as GAD and agoraphobia. These were percolating before I was traumatised.

Eating disorder.
I've gone through cycles of (undiagnosed) eating disorders in my life, especially when I was younger. Yes.

ADD or ADHD.
Not diagnosed, but I'm sure I have one of these. My attention span is terrible and my hands or feet are always moving (although it's because I stim). I failed miserably at the "switching between two things" tests in my ASD assessment because I lose attention when I switch my train of thought. The testing was part of executive function.

Hyperlexia.
Yes, diagnosed.

Dyslexia.
I don't believe I have dyslexia but I do reread books and passages many, many times to feel confident with them.

Gender dysphoria.
I don't think so. It's more like I don't have a gender. I'm just a mind and a heart.

Refusal to cross the midline.
I don't know what this means. I am clumsy though.

Sexually abused as a child or teen. Girls with Aspergers do not read danger signs as well as neurotypical girls, which makes girls with Aspergers much more likely to get into a situation that is bad for them. While the girl with Aspergers will think she’s acting within the realm of normal, a predator looking for a target will see the abnormality as an inviting sign.

100%

Work in the sex industry. Understanding sexual norms is a social skill. Feeling embarrassment is also a social skill. So the sex industry doesn’t feel as emotional risky to women who have Aspergers. Also, its easier to get the unofficial list of social rules in the sex industry than it is in a typical workplace. In my first book I wrote about how I tried to be a sex worker, and now I understand that I couldn’t get someone to hire me because I never looked like I understood the rules.



Having a mother or paternal grandmother with these traits. Or having a mother who is white, college educated and raising children alone – that is, did not remarry after the loss of a partner. (Only 2% of white, college-educated women get divorced, but pretty much all moms except those with Aspergers find a new partner after a divorce.)

VERY, VERY INTERESTING -- looking at my paternal grandmother. My dad's side was nearly all ASD people and yes, my grandmother too.

Having a weird laugh. Women laugh more than men. And for women laughter is a way to identify themselves as good partners. It’s a social skill. Women with Aspergers have a hard time figuring out how to use a laugh; often they choose not to laugh or they laugh in a stilted or uncomfortable way.

I don't like laughing around people. Likely because of the social rules that I don't know.

SAMANTHA

Not to derail the original article, but this is my gold standard for female ASD. I hit nearly every indicator. I've given the list to "non ASD" friends and they identify with very few.

That way of over-categorizing in that article indicates to me a form of psychological disorder which leads to even more confused thinking. There are simply too many variables. One question I like to ask is, what is the functional value? If you can see something in there that may apply to you, and some are bound to, then how does that help you?

Actually, how does putting so much focus on the so-called NT/autistic distinction really help anyone? I have always had trouble understanding that.

Hmm ... It's a study, I'll say that much. I mean, someone is at least trying to look into the gender disparity in autism diagnoses.

With that said, it looks reasonable valid to me, so I would have to say that more work needs to be done.

To Isabella, well said and interesting. So the root cause of your difficulties is that you were born different? The way you are processing data is not playing into that? The way I see it, the way I am processing data is definitely affected by genetics, but for me, also, even more so, it is affefcted by childhood experience, a lot of it negative. For me looking at genetics as the root cause of my experience now would be taking a lot of possibility away from myself. By the way, personally I have had a really rough time. really terrible. Now it is getting easier.

I was terrible at math, excellent at reading, was never sexually abused or have an eating disorder. I would never get a job in the sex industry because I thinks it's disgusting beyond belief. And I put on pants every day, TYVM!

If you've seen one female aspie, you've only seen one female aspie. The article is a piece of garbage.

"Rather, I'm now understanding myself and my actions, whether good or bad or indifferent."

So you are in the water of life, and now you can swim. Swim little duck!! !