Autism diagnosis may be missed in girls

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7616555.stm

what? I missed that.
Where I post I can't just open up a blind hyperlink

Merle

Sorry Merle, I don't understand the problem you're describing.

If you go to the BBC website (bbc.co.uk) and search for "autism", it is the #1 link that pops up right now.

it is not a 'problem' it is a blind hyperlink. . .a link to a website that doesn't tell what the contents is. I am at work and it has to be OK for work.

Merle

WOW, it said much of what I have said here before! My shyness, over sensitivity, etc.... might be overlooked if I were female. The same traits that make boys stand out would just be passed over in girls.

My psych said the same thing, autism is frequently missed in girls. So I really wonder if it's more common in boys than in girls. I honestly highly doubt it but what do I know?

Great article --- excellent points, especially these:

""We shouldn't assume autism or Asperger syndrome will look the same in both sexes.

"There may be many factors leading to these conditions either being underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed in females, or leading females to require a diagnosis less often."

Judith Gould, of the National Autistic Society, said: "We hear from many women who have been diagnosed later in life.

"The way autism is presented in women can be very complex and so can be missed.

"It might be that due to misconceptions and stereotypes, many girls and women with autism are never referred for diagnosis, and so are missing from statistics."


Exactly. Amen.

They won't let you look at the BBC at work?

Juliekitty,
my comment was the 'blind' hyperlink. there was no description around the hyperlink, it could have been anything, even with BBC in the link name. If I open it and the site comes up something not suitable for work, it will trip the monitor and I will be explaining a lot of things, like why I am on WrongPlanet at all when they are paying me to work. Don't you have rules about using the internet at work?

Merle

Yes, but I would guess ours are different, and differently enforced, other than the obvious such as no porn sites... I'm expected to be able to gather info from a wide range of sources in my job, so I have pretty free range.

There is actually a special proxy filter that MANY corporations use. It filters based on a LOT of details, including misplaced perceptions. Many won't allow youtube because it is streaming, entertainment and/or inappropriate. They might not allow gmail or yahoo mail. HECK, google sponsored ads are all considered illegitimate where I work!

I hate to admit it, but I even went onto THIS site from work. I'm wondering if they will ever come to my desk, and ask me what is up.

BTW sinsboldly, they COULD be mistaken for inappropriate. Many VB(Visual Basic PROGRAMMING) sites are now PORN SITES! Many EDUCATIONAL domains with a TLD of COM(duke.edu is duke university, duke.com is porn!) are now PORN! Even whitehouse.com(whitehouse.gov is the US presidents house and seat of government), last I knew, was PORN! WHY? Because they earlier got a lot of LEGITIMATE traffic. So even knowing that it is likely a valid site doesn't mean much.

Juliekitty,
I am sorry for having inadvertantly hijacking your thread. I am home now and have read the website. thank you for posting it on WP, we women and girls are often over looked.

Merle

As I always say, Autism is rarely missed in males and females. But, this isn't talking about Autism; this is in the UK where "high-functioning Autism" is mislabelled as Asperger's by people who don't bother doing any research.

You'll note that they don't bring [Classic] Autism up in regards to this for the reason above (it's rarely missed); these people say that Autism and Asperger's are the same thing, but they only differ in severity--it shouldn't be any different than the prevalence of [Classic] Autism in this regard. It doesn't follow.

The first paragraph is from Gillberg, who's found out that some female "aspies" can lack a single interest that's stereotypically AS (the repetitive behaviour), but that they're just as impaired as males in reciprocal social interaction (sometimes more so). These females would be hit with PDD-NOS in the US.

where do you get your statistics of what females in the States are diagnosed? Do your statistics take into consideration all of those females that were never diagnosed?

I didn't think so.

Merle

Autism/Autistic Disorder is rarely missed in childhood for both males and females, as the aloof behaviour and communication difficulties are there since the first few years of life (plus, the behaviour is so disturbed that it will be picked up if it is missed, unlike Asperger's where some people will still go on without knowing any differently).

With this, it's easy to see that Asperger's should have the same ratio of males to females as in Autism/Autistic Disorder if they're the same disorder, but only different based on severity.

It does not suprise me that so many girls would be overlooked. I was only diagnosed at 19 after seeing many doctors who thought Autism was a 'boy thing'. With girls, the developmental pattern differs. Unlike boys who tend to have a regression around 18 months, girls are able to disguise their disability until they are about 11. I had a major regression at 12 and have heard that this is common amongst females with autism. NT girls are naturally more sociable than guys so it means that it is less obvious.