Autism in Women
- J.C. Elliot
- Apr 7
- 2 min read
Written by J.C. Elliot, Student Affairs Administrators/Practicum Student
If you do not know, National Autism Acceptance Month. It is important to use “acceptance” rather than “awareness”, due to the necessity of accepting autistic individuals for who they are and not trying to find a cure for autistic individuals. I pose a question to the reader—when I ask you to think of an autistic person, what is the first image that pops into your head? For many, it is a little boy, specifically little white boys. Boys have traditionally been the face of autism, but girls are not. Why is that? Well, the fact nearly 80% of autistic women are misdiagnosed should be an indicator.
Autism is still seen as a “male disorder” by many. Autism affects a higher number of men than women, despite that, this just means that the current methods we have of diagnosing autism does not easily identify symptoms within women. Going back to autistic women being misdiagnosed—autistic women are often misdiagnosed with conditions such as borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder and anxiety. While it is entirely possible that these disorders can overlap with each other, women who are misdiagnosed with these disorders rather than autism is troubling.
I believe that a huge reason for the lack of visibility of autistic women are societal expectations of both men and women. Due to women not being recognized as autistic, it may become easier for them to mask—meaning to suppress their autistic behavior. This could lead to misdiagnosis or a delayed diagnosis. It is important to acknowledge that while autism is a disability and thus, is a form of oppression all autistic people face—there is still a level of privilege autistic men have over autistic women. While autistic men still have their struggles, the truth of the matter is that it is easier for them to receive support and resources, unlike autistic women who have to deal with not having their disability recognized both pre and post diagnosis.
How can you support autistic women? The most important thing is to acknowledge their existence. Autistic women have always been here and will not go anywhere. We must understand that symptoms show up differently between autistic men and autistic women. Due to this, it is important to not try to invalidate a woman’s autism by saying lines such as “my little brother is autistic, you don’t act like him.” Be sure to also support women who are seeking to discover if they are autistic or not. There is a common misconception that wondering if you are autistic is offensive to people who already know they are autistic. Due to our current issues with autism diagnoses being inaccessible to many, but also autistic women being frequently misdiagnosed, many may never be able to receive an official diagnosis. While we need to continue to advocate for autism diagnosis to be accessible to all, it is important to support those not being able to receive a diagnosis due to existing barriers when it comes to doing their research when it comes to whether or not they have autism—especially women.
Source:
Comments