Are women more likely to avoid the label of Autism

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My daughter recently assessed after 4yrs of waiting she is now 18yrs officially an adult but I found that she wasn't completely honest during the assessment. The psychologist said she behaves like she is on the spectrum but she is not Autistic she has previously been dx with ADD and Generalise anxiety disorder. Her brother has a ASD dx although he is not atypical.

Just curious are girls/women less likely wanting to be labelled and if so what do you think the reason are for this. My daughter is in university and finding it difficult to adjust I do feel she meets the criteria for ASD and felt that if she got dx she would be entitled to more support in university.

I know she is an adult and I do respect her apprehension around the assessment and I did promise her not to bring it up again. But my gut feeling is she is on the spectrum even thought this is not the first professional to say that they felt she is not because she has a warmth about her and she is not atypical.

Even if she had a diagnosis, she sounds like she might not want to access supports. Difficult as it is, you are doing the right thing not bringing it up again, as if nothing else, doing so encourages her to argue against rather than put her energy into trying to b successful.

I don't know the answer to your question, I've no idea if girls or women are less likely to want to be diagnosed with autism, but I think most people would not want such a diagnosis if they could fit in all and that girls tend to be better at learning to fit in even en atypical. So maybe that's partial answer?

About what that one professional remarked about your daughter's "warmth" being a counter-indicator....that can be rubbish. There are many cases in which a girl or woman is not diagnosed when perhaps they should be, because they have learned to mask with traits like "a warmth," and other social niceties. It's now known that females have been notoriously under diagnosed because even some professionals miss the signs in a female who has felt highly motivated to "fit in" and mimic typical social traits. Such as warmth. Even professionals can get it wrong, particularly in diagnosing females as opposed to males.

Back to your original question, if she is this uncomfortable about the possible label, then let things be.

But I still think that guy's remark about her being warm so it rules out the spectrum is ridiculous.

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I have been wondering about the process of getting diagnosed myself. I haven't been diagnosed and looking into the possibility but wondering if it's worth it. Right now I am self diagnosed which is not official I know, I have been diagnosed with mental health issues in the past. The thing is I have been reading a lot of Asperger's especially symptoms among women and it feels like I finally found the reason why I'm weird, why I never felt like I fit in, why I struggle with social situations, why I am such a clutz. I went to university but struggled there. It read an article on woman and Asperger's and I was like wow I can relate to almost every point and for the first time in my life I felt like I fit in somewhere. Posting on here I have found so many people that struggle with similar things, sensory issues hygiene, social issues. It's like all my life is starting to make sense now it's weird.

I wonder how much the fact that autism is more common in boys and that it has been seen as a case of the "extreme male brain" makes it more difficult for women and girls to accept a diagnosis of autism?