Autism Gender Differences

“When I talked with Catelyn about different social situations, she responded correctly every time.”

“Well, she was just in an intensive social skills support group this summer.  She probably learned a lot from there.”

“Maybe.  For the purposes of this evaluation for services though, I can only look at the present.  I cannot look at the past.”

“That doesn’t really make sense either.  Just because she has learned how to handle a situation, doesn’t mean it still isn’t something that comes easy to her.  What if she is having a bad day?”

“I’m sorry.  That just isn’t how this works.  We do feel she is depressed.  I think keeping her in therapy at this time would be beneficial for her.”

I was talking to the guidance counselor at Catelyn’s school.  Once Catelyn was diagnosed with High Functioning Autism (HFA) and in therapy, I alerted the school.  They proactively decided to meet with Catelyn to see if she would benefit from extra support.

Their outcome?  Catelyn was depressed but did not require extra school support.

Catelyn has always had to forge ahead on her own without support.  She has two big things working against her.

1.       She is very high functioning

2.      She is a girl

Why would being a girl work against Catelyn?

When people look at Catelyn, they want to see restricted interests, difficulty in social situations – just the way they see them in boys with autism of the same age.  Things autism diagnostic tools tell one to look for.

You know, all those autism diagnostic tools that were created by evaluating boys.

In this article, “Righting the Gender Imbalance in Autism Studies” the author looks at how girls are being overlooked.  Not just by society, but also by science.  Right now, autism is four times as common in boys than girls.  Why?

One reason, most of the studies completed have very few females in them.  However, when they add autistic girls, we learn girls exhibit different traits than autistic boys and are not being identified.  The author even likens these differences in diagnostic criteria to heart disease.  Women with heart disease were being overlooked for years as their symptoms look different then men’s.

So, what are some of the differences?  Some may include autistic girls tend to be more socially awkward than their neurotypical (NT) peers but are interested in social interactions.  Autistic girls may have learned to camouflage their traits to meet societal expectations.  Autistic girls may make eye contact and have restricted interests, but it looks different.

In this article “What are the Signs of Autism in Girls – Is Asperger’s in Girls Overlooked” I read boys with ASD may collect information on a topic of interest to them (like vacuum cleaners) while girls tend to align their interests with their NT peers, just in a more focused way.  Like learning all there is to know about American Girl Dolls, for example.

Also, that girls work hard to keep it together at school, but then come home to have meltdowns.

We can relate to that as well, as I wrote in After School Restraint Collapse.

One of the biggest challenges cited in both articles is that women and girls tend to accumulate misdiagnoses or other diagnoses like depression and anxiety.

(Ding!  Ding!  Ding!  That resonates for Catelyn!)

Why is it so important to identify girls with autism and not overlook them?

So they can get the support they need too.

When I see articles on this subject, I get very pleased.  Information is getting out there and we are getting closer to a point that girls like Catelyn will be identified and supported.  Not forced to assimilate and left feeling bad about themselves and confused – left to become anxious or depressed.