Why autism is different for girls

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Athenacapella
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07 Mar 2010, 9:22 pm

Ahaseurus2000 wrote:

I keep hearing "misdiagnosis". But HOW? how are females misdiagnosed?

how are heart attacks missed in women, even though it's the No. 1 killer of women?

It presents slightly differently (women can appear more animated in speech, better at empathy), and clinicians aren't looking for it/expecting it. There also exists still a bias that it's "only boys" who have AS or ADHD.

Edited to add: Girls are also less likely to act out in schools. They are perceived as shy. The girl who sits quietly reading book after book about horses will be perceived as shy, while the boy who obsesses over trains will be identified.

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07 Mar 2010, 10:01 pm

Athenacapella wrote:

The girl who sits quietly reading book after book about horses will be perceived as shy...

this was me, except that I was perfectly comfortable lecturing and/or correcting adults if and only if their conversation wandered into my 'field of expertise.' That was taken as 'self-confident' and 'smart.' At least by the adults who were inclined to like me.

This is one behavior that is acceptable or even good in a child but not valued in an adult; If I sit quietly and read now, with other humans present that I could theoretically talk to, I am perceived as 'antisocial.' If I correct people whom the social order sets up as my 'superiors,' I am seen as 'disrespectful' or 'bossy,' regardless of our actual respective knowledge levels on the topic.

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08 Mar 2010, 12:33 am

Tollorin wrote:

Electric_Spaghetti wrote:

Boys get disruptive, girls get depressed. Boys get diagnosed with autism, girls get diagnosed with anorexia/depression/borderline personality disorder.

I'm a boy and I've never been disruptive. I'm much more familiar with depression.

Electric_Spaghetti
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08 Mar 2010, 8:27 am

PunkyKat wrote:

Tollorin wrote:

Electric_Spaghetti wrote:

Boys get disruptive, girls get depressed. Boys get diagnosed with autism, girls get diagnosed with anorexia/depression/borderline personality disorder.

I'm a boy and I've never been disruptive. I'm much more familiar with depression.

Exactly. Not all AS boys are disruptive and not all AS girls are quiet, but whatever symptoms they present are automatically filtered through peoples perceptions of what boys and girls (or men and women) "should" be like. I exhibited some pretty bizarre behaviour as a kid, but it was put down to problems at home, as were my social difficulties. My brother was normal with a moderate case of dyslexia, but due to the terrible time he had with our biological father and his struggles as school, he became frustrated and acted out a lot. As a result his dyslexia was diagnosed, accommodated and treated while he was still in primary school. I'm still trying to get help at age 27. I've been told I'm neurotic, have a personality disorder (the doctor wouldn't specify which), have depression... the list goes on. I've been told I couldn't possibly have autism because I'm verbal, capable of living alone, educated, capable of some interactions with others and... female.

PunkyKat
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08 Mar 2010, 1:16 pm

Electric_Spaghetti wrote:

PunkyKat wrote:

Tollorin wrote:

Electric_Spaghetti wrote:

Boys get disruptive, girls get depressed. Boys get diagnosed with autism, girls get diagnosed with anorexia/depression/borderline personality disorder.

I'm a boy and I've never been disruptive. I'm much more familiar with depression.

I'm a girl and I get disruptive. I'm familair with depression but it is almost always supressed rage. I got in trouble all the time in school for being "disruptive" and I was so agressive my own parents were afraid of me. I'm a chick.

It's all gender sterotypes. Boys are supposed to be bouncy and in your face and girls are supposed to be sweet and quiet
Exactly. Not all AS boys are disruptive and not all AS girls are quiet, but whatever symptoms they present are automatically filtered through peoples perceptions of what boys and girls (or men and women) "should" be like. I exhibited some pretty bizarre behaviour as a kid, but it was put down to problems at home, as were my social difficulties. My brother was normal with a moderate case of dyslexia, but due to the terrible time he had with our biological father and his struggles as school, he became frustrated and acted out a lot. As a result his dyslexia was diagnosed, accommodated and treated while he was still in primary school. I'm still trying to get help at age 27. I've been told I'm neurotic, have a personality disorder (the doctor wouldn't specify which), have depression... the list goes on. I've been told I couldn't possibly have autism because I'm verbal, capable of living alone, educated, capable of some interactions with others and... female.

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17 Mar 2010, 9:52 pm

Yeah, I also got the borderline personality diagnoses, a few years ago. I actually brought up autism too, but he dismissed it pretty easily. So, years later and little to no progress on my real issues, thankfully I met someone with AS who acted as a mirror for me.

I do wish I knew what my real problems were, earlier. It's amazing how much easier it is to deal with myself now.

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18 Mar 2010, 10:12 am

girls ( well at least me) tend to show the anxiety symptoms more

CockneyRebel
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18 Mar 2010, 1:53 pm

I'm a supposed female, though I have a strange way of showing it, and I've never had anorexia. I've had my experience with Depression, a couple of times, though.

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Ravenclawgurl
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22 Mar 2010, 11:31 am

as far as eating disorders i definatley dont have anorexia and never did

but i think i may have qualified for a Binge Eatinging disorder and/or emotional eating

gypsyRN
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23 Mar 2010, 11:41 pm

In college, when I first started to think there might be something "wrong" with me (because that was the first time I really started realizing that I was actually completely different from everyone I knew), I read up on depression, OCD, bipolar personality disorder, and ADD/ADHD. Although there were some "matches" in each disorder, none of them quite seemed to fit. I wasn't diagnosed until age 25 (finished undergrad. at 21)...and that was the first time I heard of Asperger's. Up until that point, I had only known boys with autism, who were generally incomprehensible (they were kids in special ed. programs).

Another possible reason that I think some girls (but not all) present atypically is what another poster alluded to:
Girls can be perceived as "bossy" or "spoiled" or "mean" when they throw tantrums or say or do inappropriate things. People will say things like, "Her parents must treat her like a princess." or "Both her parents work full-time...she just doesn't get enough attention." I've rarely heard people make excuses like that for boys.

Additionally, the female brain is structured quite differently from the male brain. I feel it might be likely that our "look at me, like me, want me" brain parts can compensate for some of the missing social instinct in some circumstances. The little boys' brains are structured differently and therefore cannot reorganize/regroup as efficiently as girls can.

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24 Mar 2010, 1:25 am

Electric_Spaghetti wrote:

Boys get disruptive, girls get depressed. Boys get diagnosed with autism, girls get diagnosed with anorexia/depression/borderline personality disorder.

Boys both get depressed and get anorxia as well

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05 Apr 2010, 11:48 pm

Ahaseurus2000 wrote:

I keep hearing "misdiagnosis". But HOW? how are females misdiagnosed?

I haven't been formally diagnosed with them, but I've had psychologists play around with classical anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, OCD, depression and PTSD. Now I'm pursuing an actual AS diagnosis, which is what I think actually fits me...not the other things.

CockneyRebel
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07 Apr 2010, 6:10 am

Isabella wrote:

I went to a comference in Boston about aspergers headed by Tony Attwood last year. He said fewer women get diagnosed with AS because we are better mimickers/actors, thus better at hiding our disorder. In his exstimation there are probably just as many women out there with AS as there are men, just most of them go undiagnosed, or misdiagnosed. Its a shame really, because there are few diagnosed women there aren't too many books out there about women with AS.

I must be a pretty bad actor, than. :lol:

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08 Apr 2010, 9:32 am

Electric_Spaghetti wrote:

Boys get disruptive, girls get depressed. Boys get diagnosed with autism, girls get diagnosed with anorexia/depression/borderline personality disorder.

OMG!! ! She said a mouthful! So true!!

Stone_Man
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08 Apr 2010, 10:22 am

Kaizer wrote:

but you'd be suprised how often the 'must be your hormones' crap gets played on :roll:

I believe it. I can remember a time when that was also given as the reason why women were supposedly "worse drivers" than men, why they could never be world leaders (they'd start world wars while on their period), why they committed crimes, and indirectly, why they shouldn't participate in athletics.

It was used as a catch-all "explanation" for pretty much everything, really.

gemstone123
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09 Apr 2010, 9:43 am

Athenacapella wrote:

Girls are also less likely to act out in schools. They are perceived as shy. The girl who sits quietly reading book after book about horses will be perceived as shy, while the boy who obsesses over trains will be identified.

Oh yeah that rings a bell. I was constantly just called shy when I was younger. At one point before I was diagnosed with AS they(the "professionals") even said I was "chronically shy". I mean, what the heck is that?! :lol:

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