Women with Autism Overlooked?
Sweetleaf
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08 Sep 2015, 2:31 pm
Yes, this. NTs, through enjoyable social interactions, receive hormones that provide protection from anxiety and depression. For an autistic woman struggling just to appear "normal", every interaction instead produces cortisol.
The doctor is focusing on how the conversation works for others, with no regard for how broken it is for the speaker.
It's as if every time you try to put gas in your car, it leaks out through a hole in the bottom of the tank. But the mechanic claims there's nothing wrong because you inserted the nozzle correctly.
Well I imagine trying to appear 'normal' in every interaction would have that effect....much more pleasant to just interact as abnormal. That and I cannot really pull off a convincing 'normal' act I don't think, trying would be very stressful. I guess sometimes if its more clear you didn't insert the nozzle correctly people don't expect the 'normal' result in the first place.
I mean for me its either people think there is something wrong and that i should just put on a more normal front to hide it, then people who know and like me don't understand what it is people see 'wrong' with me if that makes sense.
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08 Sep 2015, 3:22 pm
I never claimed autistics couldn't get those endorphin rushes and feel those feelings, but it's possible they aren't near as strong as NTs get them. It's near impossible to know what someone else is feeling, but imagine if those good feelings you received were only seedy Mexicali schwag from the street (think back before legalization), and what all the NTs are feeling is more like the stuff in the stores now. It's not that you don't feel it, but you might not feel it as powerfully as NTs. Again, it's just a theory.
As for mob mentality it sucks up even everyday normal levelheaded people that are generally not fearful or spiteful at all. There has to be some sort of physiological explanation aside from fear, or even the need to fit in. People lose their minds in a mob, if one could freeze time in a mob and psychoanalyze an individual participant most psychologists would have that person committed.
Sweetleaf
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08 Sep 2015, 3:33 pm
I never claimed autistics couldn't get those endorphin rushes and feel those feelings, but it's possible they aren't near as strong as NTs get them. It's near impossible to know what someone else is feeling, but imagine if those good feelings you received were only seedy Mexicali schwag from the street (think back before legalization), and what all the NTs are feeling is more like the stuff in the stores now. It's not that you don't feel it, but you might not feel it as powerfully as NTs. Again, it's just a theory.
As for mob mentality it sucks up even everyday normal levelheaded people that are generally not fearful or spiteful at all. There has to be some sort of physiological explanation aside from fear, or even the need to fit in. People lose their minds in a mob, if one could freeze time in a mob and psychoanalyze an individual participant most psychologists would have that person committed.
Perhaps, though I find myself plenty satisfied with positive feelings I get from positive interactions but it could be neurotypicals feel that even more intensely, either way for me its enough to want to keep it up than go into recluse mode. As for the negative interactions...i do just want to go into recluse mode and then i can get all self conscious about future interactions which sucks because I don't like being lonely but if I am all nervous about getting mocked or stigmatized or making an a** of myself by accident makes it harder go out and attempt any interaction.
Also that is kind of what i was getting at with the mob mentality, it certainly can suck in levelheaded people...of course there is more than fear and a need to fit in. Sometimes 'morality' can be used if people think what they are doing is morally just they can get self righteous about it and even people who aren't particularly fearful still have fears and those can still be played on to encourage them to move towards mob mentality. Also getting people angry helps...anger impairs the frontal lobe(that thing you think with) so people can do plenty of terrible things if you get them angry enough....either way a mob is certianly not a rational thing.
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The_Face_of_Boo
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25 Sep 2015, 12:08 pm
How do you explain then the gender disparity in diagnosis of Low-functioning Autistics?
Surely specialists wouldn't mistake Low-functioning autistic girls as NTs or misdiagnose them with something else; their condition would be very obvious to them: they wouldn't slip "under the radar".
That strongly indicates there's a genetic gender-related component in Classic Autism.
So if the AS/HFA gender disparity is really due to AS girls being growing "overlooked" and "slipping under the radar" while the real gender ratio is 1:1 like some of you claim then that means that AS is an entirely different condition, and it's not related to Classic Autism in any way? Then screw the whole Spectrum concept.
And I don't really buy it that little girls are more trained to be social hence more likely to "slip under the radar" - if anything, the social expectations and stereotypes on girls to be more social and behave socially would expose their autistic traits even more and earlier. Logically, it would be the boys who would be more likely to "slip under the radar" because it's less socially expected from boys to be too social and interactive with others, in case of LFA toddlers, it is also more expected of boys to talk more late.
Now if anyone, man or woman - is always not being diagnosed as AS by several specialist diagnosticians, then he or she doesn't have the condition - simple.
25 Sep 2015, 12:22 pm
I had all kinds of diagnosis and still no one was able to spot that I had Aspergers- and this was at one of the leading hospitals in the country. I think psychiatrists/psychologists are quacks for the most part that try to diagnose you within 30 seconds of meeting you.
Needless to say, I spent almost a year in therapy with no progress made at all.
Girls do present differently- I think the majority of girls start to show extreme symptoms once they hit puberty. Although, I believe I was showing autistic tendencies my whole life and no one caught it. I believe the only person who is apt to diagnose a person with Autism is another autistic- or someone who has been around autistics for a VERY long time.
For some reason, I am able to spot an Aspie from a mile away even though I have no "formal training".
25 Sep 2015, 2:08 pm
Surely specialists wouldn't mistake Low-functioning autistic girls as NTs or misdiagnose them with something else; their condition would be very obvious to them: they wouldn't slip "under the radar".
That strongly indicates there's a genetic gender-related component in Classic Autism.
So if the AS/HFA gender disparity is really due to AS girls being growing "overlooked" and "slipping under the radar" while the real gender ratio is 1:1 like some of you claim then that means that AS is an entirely different condition, and it's not related to Classic Autism in any way? Then screw the whole Spectrum concept.
And I don't really buy it that little girls are more trained to be social hence more likely to "slip under the radar" - if anything, the social expectations and stereotypes on girls to be more social and behave socially would expose their autistic traits even more and earlier. Logically, it would be the boys who would be more likely to "slip under the radar" because it's less socially expected from boys to be too social and interactive with others, in case of LFA toddlers, it is also more expected of boys to talk more late.
Now if anyone, man or woman - is always not being diagnosed as AS by several specialist diagnosticians, then he or she doesn't have the condition - simple.
Do you think it's possible for ANY women to be autistic? I get the feeling you think autism is something that's only for men--or that women can only be classically, low functioning autistic, and any women who are high functioning are faking it for some reason. Is that what you think?
Guess women should just leave this forum completely, since none of them actually have autism and so don't need support. Way to weed out the fakers, Boo! Good job.
25 Sep 2015, 2:12 pm
Guess women should just leave this forum completely, since none of them actually have autism and so don't need support. Way to weed out the fakers, Boo! Good job.
Wow, you are being ridiculous. Maybe you should try addressing something that Boo actually said rather than the stuff you made up in this comment.
25 Sep 2015, 2:19 pm
Guess women should just leave this forum completely, since none of them actually have autism and so don't need support. Way to weed out the fakers, Boo! Good job.
Wow, you are being ridiculous. Maybe you should try addressing something that Boo actually said rather than the stuff you made up in this comment.
Did you miss the questions, where I ask him if that is in fact what he thinks? They have question marks at the end of them, like the sentence before this one. I also said "I have a feeling this is what you think"--which implies that I could be wrong, but that is the impression I have. Perhaps you missed that, too?
25 Sep 2015, 2:26 pm
No, I didn't miss it. I just noticed that the question is completely out of left field and can in no way be inferred from what Boo posted, therefore you completely fabricated what you're asking about rather than legitimately "getting the feeling" from reading it. There's nothing in that post that even remotely relates to faking or there not being any high-functioning autistic girls.
25 Sep 2015, 2:33 pm
So how did you eventually get diagnosed Asperger's?
lostonearth35
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25 Sep 2015, 2:52 pm
It doesn't matter where you post on this site, you will end up bombarded by woman-hating messages. I even saw one post made several years ago by a very angry individual saying women are demons from hell. It's like if we reject them, are uninterested in them, and they can't control us, it's never their fault women are to blame for everything, and then I fear they are sociopaths, cold and arrogant killers who will go on the next killing spree where only females are the victims. Makes you wonder who the real "demons" are.
I knew I was different ever since I was kid and used to ask my mother why that was. Until I was diagnosed with Asperger's no one had the answer to that question. They thought I was just a lost cause who should be left to die in the hospital or a woman's shelter on a freezing cold night about week before Christmas.
25 Sep 2015, 3:02 pm
I knew I was different ever since I was kid and used to ask my mother why that was. Until I was diagnosed with Asperger's no one had the answer to that question. They thought I was just a lost cause who should be left to die in the hospital or a woman's shelter on a freezing cold night about week before Christmas.
Be careful, the mods don't like such talk. Misandric women-trolls are apparently a much bigger problem for WrongPlanet. Just because this is the Women's Discussion forum doesn't mean you should feel safe and comfortable posting here--that's not what an autistic support forum is for. Those are only for guys--didn't you get the memo?
The_Face_of_Boo
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25 Sep 2015, 3:28 pm
Knight wilburforcem, she did post a misandric post in the other thread, calling guys here as powerful and killer warlords (she put it that all men are too busy of making weapons and destroying the planet).
Let a guy posts something like his, and he would be reported by countless of users and banned in no time.
Last edited by The_Face_of_Boo on 25 Sep 2015, 3:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
androbot01
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25 Sep 2015, 3:31 pm
It's not that girls are "more trained to be social," but rather that women are socially more competent than men (since we're making generalizations) and are better able to cope with autism.
Perhaps the hostility comes from women's being better at functioning with autism than men.
Usually it's the same ones though. And there are some thoughtful men here.
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