Ways Girls May Mask ASD

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That used to be PPD-Nos but that has been taken out of the new book entirely. Unless something has changed, everything is now under the umbrella of "autism spectrum disorder."

And under this new DSM, unless you meet ALL the criteria, someone who would have fallen under the PDD-NOS category is no longer legitimately diagnosable with anything except maybe a hodgepodge of other non-spectrum issues?

If so, that sounds really fishy to me.

My daughter is 7. Hopefully she will be able to function well in society. Right now I think she is much more intensely affected by the AS genetics than my brother was/is. Sometimes I am a total mess at home but I don't think it's too bad-maybe some OCD traits. Isn't it strange that sometimes it's hard to self analyze...sometimes I feel amazingly competent when at other times I wonder if everyone else around me thinks I am a raving lunatic. AS is practically impossible to sum up in a set of diagnostic "criteria". I think the people writing the DSM are ill equipped to understand AS as other countries do. The Gillberg criteria seem the most accurate. Why don't the DSM people just adopt the same criteria?? I'm also paranoid about every medical decision in the US being driven by the insurance companies.

ah, wait, wait, wait.

being pretty & having AS is a bad combo. for young girls it opens them up to predatory and abusive behavior. as an adult, understanding a guy's intentions (and level of trustworthiness) is still a huge problem. if i manage to figure out someone is interested in me (which has to be stated outright or obvious beyond mistake) i still am in the dark as to the depth or nature of the interest, and have mistaken physical interest for relationships in development more times than i care to count. apparently words aren't the usual manner of communicating such things. this is where i most feel i am lacking a "rule book" .. dating has been hell. i won't even equivocate. someone might as well be asking me to climb mt. everest. i have no idea how people with AS manage to get married and have children.

(and no, Ferdinand, girls do not prefer mean boys; at least, not girls with any self-respect. but don't get me started - this might be my absolute least favorite negative stereotype of women. i will blow a fuse.)



lack of gender identification seems to be a big one.

i can relate to a lot of the traits on the chart someone posted a link to (from Rudy Simone's website) but i think some of it is quite vague

to OP, i don't know how i've gotten by. hiding & avoidance mostly, rather than mimicry.

Thanks White Tiger. not only did I read your blog, I signed the petition too. It's time for girls on the spectrum to stop falling through the cracks.

Thanks White Tiger... I am a firm believer that the gender ratio for Autism 4:1 is utter rubbish. I dun believe it's true.

I am born in the year of the tiger and the White tiger is my favourite animal

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBOTkvM1mJw[/youtube]

I'm not married and don't have any children, but I've been in my current relationship for 10 years (though it's problematic at the moment) and previously had a relationship that lasted 14 years. I think I managed it by just not rejecting the shy, nerdy guys who approached me. Since they weren't into doing the whole dance that people do to get into a relationship, there wasn't really any possibility of misunderstanding. They just turned up all the time, wanting to spend a lot of time with me. I've never been on an actual date.

Since I'm not pretty, or girly at all, and I don't know how to flirt, I haven't had to deal with guys hitting on me, even when I was younger. Perhaps, as you suggested, being pretty is the hardest position to be in.

Have watched these videos on Youtube more than once.

Love the videos and this might be off topic but I noticed something when looking around on the ways they are doing things with aspergers - like the kind of help offered etc. Wanted to know if anyone has noticed that people are veering away from what Tony Attwood already learned. I mean like Mr Attwood wouold say about socializing "less is sometimes better" Then I read by new "expert" and they say the exact opposite of Tony.

Its like they are starting at square one and going to end up finding out that it does not work BUT Tony A. and his people already found that out. Why don't they start of where Tony A. is at instead of starting over.

NOTE: Not one professional I have ever spoken with in my area even know who Tony Attwood is. They are using neurotypical techniques to help Aspies. That is what my system is doing.

So somewhere in this jumbled post did I make any sense.

My Youtube

Have watched these videos on Youtube more than once.

Love the videos and this might be off topic but I noticed something when looking around on the ways they are doing things with aspergers - like the kind of help offered etc. Wanted to know if anyone has noticed that people are veering away from what Tony Attwood already learned. I mean like Mr Attwood wouold say about socializing "less is sometimes better" Then I read by new "expert" and they say the exact opposite of Tony.

Its like they are starting at square one and going to end up finding out that it does not work BUT Tony A. and his people already found that out. Why don't they start of where Tony A. is at instead of starting over.

NOTE: Not one professional I have ever spoken with in my area even know who Tony Attwood is. They are using neurotypical techniques to help Aspies. That is what my system is doing.

So somewhere in this jumbled post did I make any sense.

My Youtube

ooops. Double posted. The site booted and said to many people posting. Got back in and have 2 post.

I think you're really right. Asperger's is NOT mild autism, just more verbal autism. It can change the same problems with functioning as those who are thought to be more disabled.

I'd like to see AS kept in the DSM, but I think at this point, the best we can do is to try to sway the committee to better define or remove "lack of social reciprocity" and to set up their criteria of severity so that it better reflects functioning, rather than intelligence or verbal skills.

Please help to spread the petition!

Ah I love this forum:)
I've definitely tried to myself to mask my social inadequacies. Not necessarily successfully and I'm still trying to mimic others and constantly observing other people's social interactions to try and work out what it is I'm missing/where I'm going wrong.
That chart posted was really helpful too and the majority applied to me. I find it hard to articulate the problems I have so it's always nice to see some of them described by someone else for me.

This isn't true at all and neither is the 'bad boy' thing. Maybe it's fair to say they have it easier than men but to say they have it easy is way way off. But I think it's a forgivable misconception for a teenager to have...



This is a spot-on response!

Um... Yeah, growing up as a socially naive but pretty girl with AS is a piece of cake. I mean, who wouldn't want to be a target for unscrupulous older guys or pedophiles as a preteen?

Seriously, there is way more to life than getting dates. Girls with AS have issues boys never have to deal with and vice versa--it seems pointless to argue that one gender has it worse than the other overall. And being pretty, while usually an asset, can just add to the misery of high school. The social awkwardness of AS is enough to make a girl a target of the mean and popular girls, but when you add pretty to the mix they can be especially vicious.

i agree. functioning superficially (and with great anxiety) is not functioning.

i will sign the petition.

maybe the "thing" that gets in the way is the remembrance of people who have been put off when they really got to know you - i get the emasculation thing too. "male brain" - there is something to that.



i'm no .. i don't know, pick someone - Angelina Jolie, or whoever, but i have nice features and when i was young (unfortunately) had a very nice body.

starting in my teen years i made myself as unattractive to men as possible.

i became aware of this later on (it was unconscious) and as an adult (before finding out i had AS) i was convinced for many years i had repressed memories of sexual abuse. there were a few instances of abuse in my childhood, but nothing like this.

what a mess. it's terrible - i may be undiagnosable because i can carry on a conversation, and yet i have been unable to achieve any of the major milestones by which most people measure their successes in life. it is a trail of burned bridges and financial ruin and corpses of friendships .. i am just now figuring out what has happened.

i recently wrote to a local diagnostician who said most specialists have never seen a woman with ASD because they are outnumbered 15:1 by men. i tried to explain what was really going on and he had no interest in my response.

One thing I want to point out, in regards to the petition is this:

The new criteria may not affect you. Perhaps you have a lack of social reciprocity in all situations and times, or listed on your psych report. Perhaps you won't need to be reassessed under the new criteria.

However, young girls coming along may be affected. Already, only the lower functioning ones are being identified and they are doing worse overall than the boys in relationships, work and independent living.

If you are smart, verbal and can fake reciprocal social interaction, it is hard enough to get diagnosed now. Imagine after this new criterion is passed!

I have a verbal IQ of 131. I have a functional IQ of 70. I have to have a home care worker that visits twice a week to help me live independently with success. I am disabled and cannot work. I know autistics that are MR who work full time and live alone without help. Asperger's is not necessarily mild so I am lucky to have been diagnosed with my high verbal skills.

Girls aren't being examined well enough. You can help stop that by signing the petition.

Help Autistic Girls Petition

Thanks