Female AS traits--i found this list

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most of that list describes me very well.

I wonder if the list might also fit for some of the less "maculine" guys on the spectrum who have trouble getting a dx. my son for instance, he's been dx NLD and bipolar, but he's extremely sensitive, love animals and is distracted by shiny things and I think his bipolar dx is BS that happened because he was having a lot of meltdowns that were interpreted as manic behavior. I think gender expression exists on a continuum so some men may fall more into the "female" list as some woman will look classically "male" autistic. if that makes sense.

also, I think the point of the list is that some of what is on there tends to rule out a spectrum dx for females when it shouldn't, probably as it also does for some males, and that professionals should look at the larger pattern instead of slapping a BPD or bipolar label on a female.

I recognize many, but most of these look like typical AS traits not just for females. I don't see why they have to ben in a female AS symptom list. Why not just list the traits that are different from males or that make it hard to get diagnosed? Some others were just plain not applicable to me and I have no clue what they have to do with AS, eg. the women's love of animals (don't dislike them, but I am not especially fond of animals). Then again I see it mentioned here quite often.

QFT.. Exactly. On both points, about the gender expression (something I've been pointing out over on the Adult forum for awhile) and about the purpose of the list. Perhaps, if one wanted to be gender-neutral, it could be re-named to "Characteristics of Autistics Who Tend to be Misdiagnosed as Borderline or Bipolar"

or "emo auties"

I have been misdiagnosed, too. I still don't think that there are that many things on this list that are unique only to women with AS. Sorry..... I think that the DSM-IV definition of what AS is fits me better than the list does. I identify with the list , but the list sounds like a list of traits common to girls who are not particularly fitting the stereotype that most people think of when they think of girls. I fit that profile..... but I also have AS.

I agree and like everyone we are all different, my main women difference to me was giving birth and as such as mothers our AS traits must have an impact and feel this is the sort of information that is more useful, for women in general... sensory wise etc... having children can be extremely hard but also very rewarding and I tend to think if like ourselves we treat each child as an individual and do what works for us as mothers, not listen to the overload of information on how we should be as mothers, for myself the most rewarding and at the same time challenging thing I have ever done, I have one aspie and one none aspie but both brilliant, well I am there mother and I wouldn't say either of them needs more support or harder to deal with, its simply understanding there differing needs at times, embracing each of them who they are as individuals...

i had that exact same reaction when i read that

ROFL

The whole list fits me .

- If she likes a male, she can be extremely, noticeably awkward in her attempts to let him know, e.g. she may call him repeatedly. This is because she fixates and doesn't understand societal gender roles. This will change with maturity.

Okay.... I totally missed this one. This is really funny - "This will change with maturity." It will??? Hahahahaha.... I had to meet my husband online because I still have no idea what my "gender role" is supposed to be.... or any other role for that matter!!

Usually because there's a very good reason for her having to stop,
i.e. overemphasis on the social aspects at the expense of individual study and discovery in some courses.

Or it's for reasons of self preservation.

Also being bullied/hassled/excluded by other people or having to deal with overly crowded situations, when she never wanted to stop.

If there are too many people having a go at her, harassing her, getting drunk around or she doesn't feel safe and happy: that's why she has to stop I think, not because she hates the topic of study or her job. She might even feel rotten about stopping, but sees no alternative.




There's one thing that I've noticed.

Whenever I've become excited about a topic/interest and describe it to people in great detail, they soon become bored or ask me to talk about more mundane things.

People have often made me feel ashamed about talking about topics of interest. People have told me to 'shut up' or that 'no-one's interested' when I've done this. They've told me that I was 'ill', 'wrong' or 'broken' when I did this. They told me to keep quiet when I observed things in the physical environment.

When I was a little girl, I was told that I was being 'naughty' when I was lecturing people and yet the boys seemed to be able to get away with this kind of behaviour all the time. Boys were allowed to do story-telling or describe their model aeroplanes to people in great detail. I was not, simply I presume because I was a girl. They expected me to gossip instead.

I've noticed that if there's a man in the room talking about the same esoteric topic as me, he will get more attention than I do. I've noticed this time and time again.

It seems to be more acceptable for men to gesticulate and rabbit on about technical topics than it does for women.

I've had to listen to umpteen men rabbit on about arcane/technical topics and I've had to take notes. Yet, when it's me doing the rabbiting on, people frown or don't pay attention.

Women are apparently expected to gossip about nothing.

I've talked to women in different male dominated technical fields and they've said that it's very rare for a women to have high positions in these organisations. I'm now beginning to realise why this is the case.

People seem to have selective listening.


In general:

Societal role for men: Gesticulate and lecture.

Societal role for women: Gossip and chat.


The only problem is that I'm female and have always been rubbish at gossiping, but better at lecturing.

Just a few things I've noticed.

That's what I said when I read that. I changed drastically the direction of my occupations several times in my life. But not because I stopped liking them but because the first one wasn't possible in the place which I had to move to due to social problems. I didn't have the luxury to go where was good for my career, I had to go where I was bullied and outcast less. Then I changed another 2 times - not because I suddenly stopped liking those occupations, but because there was a glass ceiling for people without excellent politics talent in those occupations and I kept being fired from them.

Your issue reminds me of something I did in College. I saw a group of guys chatting it up about Mario and I mention liking videogames and got a weird stare (talk about feeling stupid)

I'm very happy that people are starting to realize the differences between male and female aspies. I can only relate to a few things that aspie men go through but I related to almost everything on this list. I just regret that it took researches so long to realize these differences.

I've thought of this, too. Could there be guys who have AS but are difficult to diagnose? These could also be their traits.
These traits are not common in women, from what I've seen. The women I have known all want to be out of the house doing stuff, not at home. They finish their degrees in a timely manner, then go on to find employment. They do not fixate on one or two things at the expense of everything else. They do not want to live alone or be celibate, either. Women do not want to do "girly" things with other women? It seems like most of them do, and they are shallow about looks. I haven't seen many who have meltdowns in public. If they see someone having a meltdown, they will cooly insist the person having it must be unstable. These traits are definitely not typical.