Penelope Trunk’s female aspergers “test”

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Any relation to Penelope Tree?

I happen to know of many females who happen to have classical "Aspergian" or "autistic" traits which are indistinguishable from males with "Aspergian" or "autistic" traits.

There is a theory floating around about a "female presentation" of Asperger's/autism where the "usual" traits are not exhibited, or are exhibited subtly enough to be missed by most diagnosticians.

I believe there is at least some plausibility to it. It is often stated that there is a 4:1 or 5:1 ratio of incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorders---in favor of males. However, no such ratio is evident on WrongPlanet. There might be slightly more men than women who are regular contributors to the Site--but the ratio is drastically reduced from 4:1. It seems more like 1.5:1, or perhaps even 1:1.

This would seem to indicate an underdiagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders for females.

Many more people than Penelope Trunk are speaking of this phenomenon; mostly, they seem more credible than her.

There was at least one other great Penelope: Odysseus' wife, a character in Homer's epic known as the "Odyssey."

She (Penelope) spent about 20 years, while Odysseus was out on his adventures, sewing something for him (I forgot what). The sewing symbolized the faith Penelope had that Odysseus would eventually return to her.

I think this article is too generalized, and some of the things mentioned don't have to do with autism. I don't think like a neurotypical boy; I doubt a neurotypical boy cries at tiny things and hates roughhousing. Not all autistic people are masculine; if so, there would probably be no autistic trans women, and there are. Autistic people can be emotional, have empathy, like fashion and makeup, and have any stereotypical feminine traits. Not all autistic people, whether male or female, are good at math. Comorbid disorders are common in autistics, but aren't signs of autism by themselves. Some males with Asperger's can camouflage, and some females can't; saying that all girls with Asperger's can mask their disorder seems like an attempt to separate those with Asperger's from other autistic people. AFAB people with gender dysphoria usually identify as non-binary or male, so it doesn't seem right to list gender dysphoria as a sign of autism in girls. Overall, I don't think gender stereotypes are a good way of understanding Asperger's, or anything else. They rely on an overgeneralized and oversimplified view of the world. Why can't someone be a super-social cheerleader who also has genius intelligence? People are too complicated to sort into neat boxes.

I suck at math. and I'm extremely uncoordinated; therefore, I'm not good at math or sports.

I am a nerdy, effeminate man trapped in a butch woman's body, so, according to this test, I'm not autistic.

IMHO, bullplop.

I have the weird laugh, for sure, though no-one hears it now. I taught myself to suppress it except when I am alone, and replace it with a "social laugh".

I found the piece overall quite painful to read, it brought back painful memories.

However I think she is quite wrong about the gender/math stuff, and I was a maths whiz girl but am not at all like a typical man. That linkage made by Penelope is sincere I am sure though I find it quite offensive.

Some (not all) of what Penelope says there rings true for me, and I've had similar thoughts about aspergers in women.

For instance, while my social skills are way below par for a woman, I think they might just fall into the normal range for a man. I get the impression Asperger women, in general, do seem to manage a little better socially.

Her opinion might not be backed up by science, and is clearly an overgeneralisation, but I think its worth having the discussion on typical differences between female and male presentation.

I do think that females with Asperger's generally mask their difficulties more than males do, but I don't think that means being more like a typical male. Women aren't necessarily so much better socially than men, they just tend to socialize in a different way. NT males usually fit in with each other. I don't fit in with anyone.

I was excellent at reading but terrible at math. Which just goes to show that if you've seen one person who is aspie, you've only seen one person who is aspie, and it's doubled if you're female.

Hi. It's Penelope here. Thank you for taking a look at the blog post I wrote.

The blog post contains more than fifteen links to support the assertions I make. I think links don't show up on this forum. Based on the discussion here, you will be particularly interested in the first three links which talk about why women with Aspergers seem like neurotypical men.

Finally, I'm was professionally diagnosed. So were my son and and father. That doesn't really matter for the above links, but in case I end up commenting again, I thought I'd clear that up.

Penelope