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More Girls Are Being Diagnosed With Autism

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ASPartOfMe
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17 Apr 2023, 11:20 am

Jono wrote:
MatchboxVagabond wrote:
Jono wrote:
The way that I understand it is that there's interaction between picking up on the signs of autism and gender roles, expectations or stereotypes. A girl with high functioning autism might have all the same signs and symptoms as a boy but the people around them can more easily miss it because they dismiss it as "most girls are like that".


In a lot of cases for one reason or another the signs and symptoms are just different. Heart disease is a particular killer amongst women because it doesn't have quite the same pattern of symptoms. And men probably are somewhat less likely to be depressed than women, it's undoubtedly underdiagnosed in part because it often times appears as an anger problem rather than a depressive one.

And in part due to the higher density of neurons in a typical woman's brain, anything that causes or promotes swelling there is likely to result in damage sooner than it would in a man with the same number of neurons.


I've met some on the ASD spectrum and they don't seem that different to me. It appears to be the NT parents and teachers who see differences between boys and girls on the spectrum.

That has not been my experience. It has been the Autistic women who have been talking about this for the almost 10 years I have been following autism. When I first started outside of autistic spaces they were being ignored. In the last few years they are being listened to.

Opinion=mine
The core traits are the core traits so there is in a literal sense no such thing as “Female Autism”. What is different is how these core traits are presented caused by gender/societal expectations of how a female is supposed to act and think. Not every female has “female autism” and visa versa


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17 Apr 2023, 8:32 pm

Jono wrote:
MatchboxVagabond wrote:
Jono wrote:
The way that I understand it is that there's interaction between picking up on the signs of autism and gender roles, expectations or stereotypes. A girl with high functioning autism might have all the same signs and symptoms as a boy but the people around them can more easily miss it because they dismiss it as "most girls are like that".


In a lot of cases for one reason or another the signs and symptoms are just different. Heart disease is a particular killer amongst women because it doesn't have quite the same pattern of symptoms. And men probably are somewhat less likely to be depressed than women, it's undoubtedly underdiagnosed in part because it often times appears as an anger problem rather than a depressive one.

And in part due to the higher density of neurons in a typical woman's brain, anything that causes or promotes swelling there is likely to result in damage sooner than it would in a man with the same number of neurons.


I've met some on the ASD spectrum and they don't seem that different to me. It appears to be the NT parents and teachers who see differences between boys and girls on the spectrum.


So you have met some (I assume females) on the spectrum and from this small sample size conclude it’s parents and teachers who are seeing the differences.

My understanding is that it has been the older, professional women who have figured out they are autistic - and then worked backward from there. If we had waited for parents and teachers to come up with it, it would have been too late for many of us.

If you google high-functioning autism in professional women you will find lists of characteristics that bear little resemblance to classic autism.


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RandoNLD
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17 Apr 2023, 8:42 pm

Interesting, a Psychiatrist once said that boys are more likely to be diagnosed as ADHD because girls are socialized to be more accommodating and quiet. I've been wondering if the same isn't true with ASDs.



Jono
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19 Apr 2023, 8:57 am

blazingstar wrote:
Jono wrote:
MatchboxVagabond wrote:
Jono wrote:
The way that I understand it is that there's interaction between picking up on the signs of autism and gender roles, expectations or stereotypes. A girl with high functioning autism might have all the same signs and symptoms as a boy but the people around them can more easily miss it because they dismiss it as "most girls are like that".


In a lot of cases for one reason or another the signs and symptoms are just different. Heart disease is a particular killer amongst women because it doesn't have quite the same pattern of symptoms. And men probably are somewhat less likely to be depressed than women, it's undoubtedly underdiagnosed in part because it often times appears as an anger problem rather than a depressive one.

And in part due to the higher density of neurons in a typical woman's brain, anything that causes or promotes swelling there is likely to result in damage sooner than it would in a man with the same number of neurons.


I've met some on the ASD spectrum and they don't seem that different to me. It appears to be the NT parents and teachers who see differences between boys and girls on the spectrum.


So you have met some (I assume females) on the spectrum and from this small sample size conclude it’s parents and teachers who are seeing the differences.

My understanding is that it has been the older, professional women who have figured out they are autistic - and then worked backward from there. If we had waited for parents and teachers to come up with it, it would have been too late for many of us.

If you google high-functioning autism in professional women you will find lists of characteristics that bear little resemblance to classic autism.


I'm talking about the fact that women are more likely to be diagnosed later. Also, I'm not talking about classic autism, Asperger syndrome in general does look the same as classic autism, that's why I did not get an autism diagnosis until I was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome (under DSM 4 criteria) when I 14 by a doctor who did his PhD on it, it wasn't a recognisable diagnosis in South Africa at the time. All I'm saying is that I think that I could recognise some characteristics in women with condition based on my own experience. Also, it's not just me who thinks that parents and teachers miss the same signs in girls compared to boys, there's actually some research suggesting that gender roles and stereotypes play some role in the under diagnosis of girls and women.



Last bumped by Jono on 19 Apr 2023, 8:57 am.