Milder autism far outpacing 'profound' diagnoses

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ABC News

7th paragraph down: there are more girls with profound autism than boys? That seems unlikely, considering male diagnoses are still exceeding female diagnoses. Am I reading this wrong?

It's probably because they know they'll never be able to provide enough support for "profound" cases, so they'd rather offload it onto the patients themselves. It's a subtle kind of gaslighting imo if they tell people they don't really, actually have a problem. It takes the pressure off the ADA and employers for having to make accommodations, and allows for fewer people to claim disability benefits. Sounds like a big lose-lose to me.

Oh, almost forgot. It also helps big pharma because the anti-vaxxers won't be able to blame vaccines if there isn't really a problem. Pretty much everything USA does is in support of big pharma, so I'm sure they're involved somehow in this lobby.

I'd assume the girls aren't identified by their teachers or even family members unless it's a very noticeable difference. They don't even get referred for help or assessment.

Everyone seems to like nice quiet girls who shy away or get engrossed in books (for example). If they're emotional it's considered a girl thing. It's pretty much what happened to me. My own parents didn't know I needed help. They were happy enough if I was out of sight, out of mind in my bedroom or climbing on the roof of an abandoned building somewhere at age 3, so long as I didn't cause a fuss. When I had meltdowns it's because I was a brat, not because I needed help.

It was similar for me. When I was being Autistic, I was punished for misbehaving. When I was locked away in my room by myself and not socializing at all with anyone for ridiculous amounts of time or when I was walking around the table for hours on end listening to the same LP for hours and hours and hour and hours, no one seemed to wonder, is there something going on with this child?

Apparently it was well known in my extended family that I was a moody brat, because my family always dragged me to sunshine destinations for holidays. All my cousins on one side were in California so it was all about going to beaches or sitting in the sun on a sheet of tinfoil so I'd get a suntan and go blonde instead of redhead. They basted me in baby oil. I was sullen and rude and angry all the time because of all the sensory hell. I was also afraid of hotels / motels but we had to go to those a lot with my cat left at home in the basement for a week at a time. Again, I was a whinging spoiled brat because I didn't want to get skin cancer or go to riotous family parties where everyone was drunk.

If they could shut me up with a book they were more than happy to ignore me for the entire week.

Oh almost forgot -- Arizona was loads of fun too. Just stick me out in the desert in baby oil and I'll be good, right?

That is horrifying. What a nightmare!

My grandmother was a fashion designer and alcoholic socialite after they moved to CA from UK.
She used to make me walk with books on my head for posture.
She was always telling me I didn't walk properly.
I was too pale, too redhead, too shy, too moody, not feminine enough.
My clothes were never right.
It was a total hoot.

My grandfather called me a sissy because I wanted to watch Little House on the Prairie.
He wanted me to go out by their swimming pool and baste in oil a bit more.
I spent my childhood covered in third degree sunburns, welts and blisters.

My dad died from skin cancer which metastasized.
My mum has skin cancer now.
I have all sorts of permanent skin damage from it.

Fun times.

Goodness. That's awful.