[Female Aspies] - Is this List Credible?

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I'm sure many of you have come across this list before but I was just wondering how credible it really is:

Link


What are your opinions on the listed traits?

"Thinks of herself as half-male half-female"
I don't know about this. Having "male characteristics" okay, but identity is a completely different issue. Many identify as male, or neither, or female, or both... For instance, I have some male characteristics but I identify as 100% female. I see myself as female.

"Highly intelligent"
I'm not sure this is a rule either.

"Can be very passionate about a course of study [...] go completely cold on it very quickly"
Does it happen to you? For me my obssessive interests change but not the general area they belong to, like languages.

"9 out of 10 have mild to severe gastro-intestinal difficulties"
Gastro-intestinal difficulties? I mean, this is very vague. If you get the general population maybe 9 out of 10 will have some form of "gastro-intestinal difficulties"

"Perceived to be cold or self-centered: unfriendly"
Hmm.. The aspies I know in real life are not perceived as cold. Two female aspie friends are actually sensitive, sweet, outgoing, very likeable, definitely not unfriendly. I don't consider myself to be unfriendly, either.

"Will not have many girlfriends [...] or have get-togethers to hang out"
Probably will not have many girlfriends, but I don't know about the get together part. I have few friends but I like to be with them. I dont know what hang out means.

That's my opinion

Without going over each one, the bulk of traits listed seem like the standard stuff for boys and girls.

I think the list itself reflects an essentialist notion of gender that promotes some traits as inherently male or female, when the truth is that variations within a group often exceeds variations between those groups. Or rather: Those are traits any autistic person of any gender can have.

I think the list is helpful in that many of these traits may be used to deny that a woman or girl is autistic, so pointing out many autistic women have them is a good thing. I think that men and boys are less likely to be discounted for such things - but the post immediately after mine shows that it does happen. (edited)

Hello there.

I hope I'm not crashing this discussion with my male presence.

My ex (a self-diagnosed aspie) showed me this very same list, April last year. She was discussing it in regards to a friend of hers, who she suspected of being on the spectrum. After some discussion and laughter, she turned it over to me and said, "actually, YOU should take a look at this. See if it applies to you."

You could have knocked me out with a feather: all but two of the traits applied to me.

Up until that point, I questioned anyone who suggested I might be autistic, because I am not an engineering / bit-head type, among other things. But this list provided an insight into myself. I am undeniably male, and yet I've never exactly been a model of masculinity. I'm also more of an arts and literature type. My ex claims that there are very few males who can approach or exercise "female" forms of communication - she's has only met two. Apparently I am one of these guys. (I don't deny my offences in the area of "male" communication).

I might be bit of a sissy bloke or something. Not straight. Not gay. A mummy's boy, I spent time avoiding my father in case he would rope me into his mechanical work. I wasn't sure I wanted to "be a man." Nor do I want to go trans or anything. I like who I am. I don't feel like a woman "trapped" in a man's body or anything, but I have wondered if my brain mind thing developed from my most immediate social models: women. I mean, sometimes I feel like I have a feminine mind working with a male body. I do believe that we learn our ability to perform gender from social / cultural cues thoughout our lives. Given autistic social "deficits," why would it be difficult to imagine that some of us might not pick up on gender roles so well. I also read about a scientific study that suggests male and female brains are basically interested in the same intellectual things. The mind seems to have no gender - rather it is influenced by the sex of its body and gender of its social environment.

Having spent some time learning about the autism spectrum prior to seeing this list, I was able to apply what I knew about this to my own past. More and more details regarding my life started to make a kind of sense. I became obsessed with Aspergers for a while, and got a diagnosis of high functioning autism last October. That bloody list was a game-changer for me.

^^^

Okay, evidence that this list does in fact help autistic men.

Oh! I'm really glad I can help. Thanks ppl

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IzAhBuJUh8[/youtube]

^I saw this video at around the same time I saw the list. If you substitute the word "girl" for "arty", you can get a sense of where some arty autists are at. I could certainly relate to her experiences.

Yes

At first I was sceptical of it, but I now realise that it describes me very well.

It's credible for me (female, undiagnosed). About 90% of these traits fit me.

Except for three things, this list describes me very well. The three things that did not describe me is that I have a few very close friends in adulthood and I don't gravitate towards science computers and graphic design. And I am not perceived as cold and unfriendly but rather the opposite. But other than that it pretty much describes me.

Here is another list that I found yesterday that describes me almost perfectly except that I do not like sex and do not struggle with wanting to change my gender. I identify as completely female although I am pretty tomboyish sometimes. Although, when I was very little I really wanted to be a boy because I loved playing with my big brother and wanted to do everything he did but I think that is very different than gender dysphoria.

Here is the link to that list.
http://taniaannmarshall.wordpress.com/2 ... -syndrome/

It's 99% true for me.

[EDIT:] Make that 100%.