girls with Aspergers, more mild symptoms? better over time?

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Mirror21
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24 Jul 2012, 3:36 am

deltafunction wrote:
I feel that I've gotten worse over time. As a child, I could get through school unnoticed by getting good grades and keeping quiet. As I got older, I realised that despite all my efforts, I was significantly different from those around me. As an adult, independence places more demands on my executive functioning. Also, behaviour that was once brushed aside when I was a child will now significantly affect my job in the present. And as I am trying to get myself established, my inability to network is placing a higher demand on my interviewing and job-securing abilities, which are weak. I also am way more aware of my differences now than I was ever before, which makes me more self-conscious.

Yes, males could also have these problems. But to answer your question, I've went from being labeled as "gifted" and "quiet" in childhood to a rebel in adolescence, and now socially awkward or anxious in adulthood.

Also, to answer your second question, autism is a different way of thinking. You may get better at hiding your symptoms to appear more NT, and then you would not qualify for an official diagnosis based on your symptoms, but you are still autistic for life. It's in your genes. Diagnosis based on symptoms is an imperfect tool for looking inside your brain, trying to figure out what is going on. If we could go to the doctors and take a blood test for autism, then things would be more clear-cut, but there is no such test at the moment.


My case is very much like your own and I agree with you assessment.



pensieve
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24 Jul 2012, 3:36 am

Either boy or girl can have mild, moderate to severe symptoms.

My sensory issues are severe. My social skills issues are mild/moderate. I've learned a lot in the four years I've been diagnosed. Plus, I'm usually on medication which makes me talk more. My need for routines aren't as severe as before but still get in the way. My special interests are moderate/severe.

Most of my behaviour can be seen as male. I'm more logical than emotional, I've even got the broad shoulders and I have anger outbursts
(meltdowns) that is more characteristic of a male. The only thing is my ability to copy people to help with social skills. It seems to be a female trait.


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Joe90
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24 Jul 2012, 11:24 am

There seems to be a lot of irony on WP - when you start a thread asking something like ''it is harder for females with AS than it is for males with AS'' then explain a bit about it, the thread turns into a big argument what gets males saying it's harder for males, and females saying it's harder for females, and nobody wins then the thread ends up getting locked. But then when threads like these come up, people actually admit that it is socially harder for females with AS. So, I really don't know.

I must add, it is harder for females with AS when it comes to conformity. There are more rules for females when it comes to conforming (like appearance, fashion, et cetera), where as men can just chuck on a T-shirt and jeans and old trainers and still look reasonable when out in public (talking about every day wear). Although girls can still get away with wearing T-shirt and jeans and trainers and look reasonable, they are still more likely to get judged by other girls who are wearing more ''stronger'' fashion, and end up getting criticised. I know I do, even though I wear stylish clothes, according to some women it still isn't ''enough'', and I feel like I'm expected to wear more make-up, style my hair better (that takes up so much time and money), and obliged to wear things that I don't like, like those long cardigans I see women wearing, or tight-fitted clothes that are uncomfortable. Also it is easier for a man to dress formally, they can get away with wearing a shirt and a tie and black trousers and just a blazer over the top. But females get judged when wearing ties (at least where I come from, don't know how other countries handle it), so we got to sort of think of what to wear for formal, and worry if the right shoes go with the right top, and some workplaces make females wear a skirt what I HATE wearing, and I wish I could just get away with wearing a tie.

But anyway, back to the topic - I read somewhere that AS females can hide their condition more than AS males (not all, but generally), and that AS females are more likely to be sensitive to ridicule and so want to push themselves more to fit in, where as AS males have more noticeable habits when out in public like stimming and not really caring what other people think, which is better to be. This is why sometimes I wish I were born as an AS male.


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Esperanza
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24 Jul 2012, 11:30 am

I'm female and my autistic symptoms have gotten WAAAAAY better over the years. I started out very autistic, and now that I'm an adult I'm mostly (not completely) NT. But I don't have Asperger's, I'm type 3 hyperlexic. Improving over time is a normal characteristic of type 3 hyperlexia though, so I don't think it has anything to do with the fact that I'm female. I'm kind of a tomboy anyway. :)