General signs of aspergers in females?

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What would be some things to look for?

I am curious about this as well and it's one of the reasons I joined. I hope I'm not stealing OP's spotlight, but I didn't want to make a new thread.

I've read that females with ASD present differently from males and that the current DSM 5 diagnostic criteria reflects the typical behaviors shown by men. Since it diagnoses based on behaviors rather than on what the disorder is (if I understand it correctly), there are many women out there who have the disorder but don't show the behaviors listed in the DSM. I've seen some websites/blogs that give lists, but they seem to be so broad that anyone with anxiety or other similar disorders could fit in. Plus they aren't actual, scientific-based sites.

I'd assume they would be the same as with men and/or boys.
I'm male (though I would rather identify as neither male or female) but from what I've heard, there are probably the same number of females and males with aspergers, but due to gender roles, girls are not suspected of having it as much and so they're not diagnosed. Boys are expected by society to be loud and rough, and when they're not, they're suspected of having something "defective" about them, while girls are expected by society to be quiet and soft. I know none of this answers your question, but I'm not an expert... Gender roles have always fascinated me in a way, since I don't understand them and they seem so "forced" to me, so that's why I replied.

Okay to answer the OP, this is what I've seen in the past: http://www.help4aspergers.com/pb/wp_a58 ... d4f6a.html (Click on the charts for more details)

But it's not really official, and it's not part of the diagnostic criteria. I don't know if the diagnostic criteria will be changing in the future since it appears that people are recognizing that women present differently from men and are better at pretending that they don't have autism. https://iancommunity.org/ssc/girls-auti ... lain-sight

From what I understand, it's not that women don't have the same traits and symptoms laid out in the diagnostic criteria -- they do, otherwise they wouldn't meet criteria and thus not be given the diagnosis.

But what it is, more, is that some or perhaps even many females may feel more pressure to notice their differences from non-autistic girls and women or people in general, feel shamed about them, and consequently try to hide the traits in order to live up to societal expectations sometimes placed more on females than on males -- for example, things like being the polite or nurturing one who says or does the right things in a social encounter.

More females than males on the spectrum might feel more of a need or expectation to mask traits and mimic so-called "normal" behaviors in order to fit in.

This is what's called the presentation being different in girls than in boys, and is more a surface thing rather than that the criteria is not present in the girl.

However, that's by no means universal -- there are lots of females who don't feel that societal pressure and are themselves rather than trying to fit in with neurotypicals, and I think things go better if you can manage to feel that way.

I'm a female aspie myself and I can tell you that we're lucky if we ever get diagnosed with it. I know I was just before my life got completely ruined and everyone thought I was a psychopath.

It seems that we're just better at coping with our differences. When we have trouble socializing or fitting in with other girls our age, we turn to role-playing with toys which seems perfectly fine when we're kids but when we're still doing it as teens or even adults people think we're schizophrenic and should be locked up. We prefer clothing that is comfortable and practical and don't see what the big deal is with cosmetics and spending a huge amount of time on our superficial appearance. Some of us get the "tomboy" label, or we act and dress ambiguous for our gender. But if you force us to not be who we are or change our environment constantly it's no better for us than it is for male aspies, and that's how it it is.

Aspergirl here. I was diagnosed with schizophrenia before being diagnosed with aspergers. Can you believe that? How offensive that they thought I was crazy.

Good short video of Attwood explaining the characteristics of girls with Asperger's.

Relate super-strongly to nearly everything he says in that clip.

I ask this question because I think the girl who I'm dating is on the autism spectrum. I don't intend to bring this up until our relationship progresses a lot more (if that happens). However, allow me to voice my observations contributing to my hypothesis: she has fleeting eye contact when she talks to me, not holding eye contact for much more than a second or two. She has very disjointed movements, sometimes robotic-like. She has said that her attention span is very short, which I have observed as well. She will make leaps between conversation topics, with little to no connection between them. She dresses comfortably, with little emphasis on sexual attractiveness or style. She talks about weird, off topics. She is an INTJ personality type. Whenever we end a date, she will use the same phrase to say goodbye (scripting). And perhaps most importantly, she likes me. I might be grabbing at straws, let me know what you guys/girls think.

OP -- always bear in mind that not everyone has all the same traits, and that some people with the traits your girl has may in fact just be a regular person with some of this behavior. Neurotypical people also can be awkward, avoid eye contact for various reasons, dress for comfort, just as some females with Aspergers can be into fashion and makeup, etc.

She may or may not be an aspie; and if she is, she may or may not know/be diagnosed. Tread carefully.