Educational magazine article about autistic and Aspie girls

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sounds like me...



i agree that they're trying to generalize aspies by gender type. well, okay, at least they succed at figuring out two main categories - boys and girls )))) but generalizing each type they fail

Perhaps it is, but it's what "experts" like Professor Attwood and Dr. Gillberg purvey.

I identified with everything in that article, very true.

Any measure of a population will fit into a "normal distribution" statistical curve.

Two populations that differ in their mean, will still overlap to a considerable degree.

It's tough to sort out.

I applaud the researchers for their courageous attempt.

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They made NO attempt! It has been done by MANY IDIOTS and feminists, so it can't even be called courageous! Yet they also say "Experts suggest". That is an interesting phrase because it all at once claims that they really KNOW what they are talking about, and states that it is merely a suggestion.

In short, I did not dispute that it can be correct about females, but merely that it is too one sided. The same can apply to males.

It is a shame that written language has so many variants. Such ideas are rehashed way too often. Maybe if they always seemed more similar the libraries would be smaller and have more information.

That sounds just like me. I'm incredibly shy, I rarely talk at all anywhere outside of my home and I've been like that for as long as I can remember.
NT Girls, on general spend a lot of time gossiping or animatedly "chattering", which I'm hopeless at, whereas I think boys tend to be more concise when they talk and don't "gabble". Obviously this is ON GENERAL I'm not trying to say that all boys act the same because of course they don't. I think there are some aspects of AS that are harder for males to cope with and some that are harder for females to cope with, it isn't a contest.

I Applaud them nonetheless.




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Thank you for that article. I enjoyed it a lot. I lately have been trying to research about the whole girls with Aspergers thing. I notice, especially emotionally, that I am totally different than the asperger boys. I am not aggressive at stress or anything. Actually, I become very shy and some what regressive with my skills, where I have periods of "Shut Downs". I can never, even during my stress periods, even think about harming someone else, never mind an aggression. The most aggressive thing I do is insult people, when I feel 'violated", I do not do it on purpose, just so that they can no longer mess with me. Other than that, I just become shy, withdrawn, and start feeling horrible about myself, where I give up and become "regressive' in my abilities, even wishing that I was less smart because I feel that if I was not smart, I would not have these pressures on me.

See, this is interesting because - in retrospect - I actually DO respond in an aggressive manner. (I'm a gent.)

This is a new realization, because had always never considered myself as particularly aggressive, always preferring to be left essentially alone to do my work. Essentially, "Go Away."

But in re-examining the data objectively, whenever my work or space is interfered with - my response has always been robust, immediate, direct, and unambiguous. Throughout my lifespan.

It comes as a genuine revelation to me.

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I basically agree with you and other posters, that people tend to be too simplistic about lumping girls and boys into set categories. Even still, I´m glad they´re doing research like this because I am a woman who tends to fit more into the "girl" category- in most, though not in all ways- and it is important for people to see that AS can present in many different ways. This knowledge may help girls get the diagnosis they need in the future. Heck, it may even help boys eventually, because, like you say, some boys may fit the "girl" manifestation. It´s just a process: we´re still learning about Asperger´s Syndrome, and the knowledge needs to be refined. Basically, to me, almost all articles about it seem simplistic and filled with stereotypes.

The article seems to try and be non-offensive, by just making generalizations about how boys and girls "tend to" act. But the real issue is not how they act themselves, but how others see them, as in what is expected of boys and girls.

If a boy has problems in school (either learning or behavioural/social), it is seen as a concern because he will need to be able to earn a living at some point. But if a girl has problems, it's OK because she can always just get married and be a housewife.
Boys need to be able to assert themselves to survive, if girls are bullied, they can always just find someone to 'protect' them from the harshness of the world.

(This is not my own opinion, BTW, but what I beleive is a way of thinking for most people, without even fully realizing it).

That never happens....

Wow, that would describe me except for the physician part (I'm not a physician.)

I am glad the article exists, as females with AS have not had the same recognition or resources as boys.
Like Sunshower, I can be a loud and assertive autistic (dx'ed AS) woman. I can also be very quiet. I have and continue to use a lot of social mimicry to get by - and the best solution is really to just hang in my studio and paint all the time.

As Sunshower says, the loud and brash female aspie - who suffers from perpetual foot in mouth disease - thus making enemies wherever she goes - is little discussed. There is the stereotypical view of the female aspie in the corner with glasses who is withdrawn and scared.

I have never fit into any group - anywhere. Not even on WP. Nowhere. I am a perpetual loner. I am even a loner in my family household. I am always like that.

For me, It takes a lot of effort and conscious thought to maintain a two-way conversation where i talk, then pause and listen, then acknowledge what the other has says and then speak again. I have to work SO HARD at doing that. I have learned to do itin short bursts - but my goodness it is one of the most exhausting things i can do. invariably i come home from any social exchanges needing to spend a day in bed -with migraines and vomiting and complete quiet. That is my life.

So in my career field, I have been ostracised by other artists because of these "social eccentricities." I am very unsure of myself in many ways, because of my autism, and yet my brashness can be misaken for ego, arrogance,and over-assuredness --none of which are really present in me in great doses. I am verbose and talkative because i do not know how to intuit two way conversation. I am also ADHD, so i can have a big energy. I am also reclusive because i find negotiating with the social world so extraordinarily complex and difficult.


I understand Zukenekerl's points raised in his post above. BUt I also think he fails to understand that most of the research and most of the coverage in the media about AS/autism focuses on males. When i rang around to look for a diagnosis a year or so ago, i spoke with a generic psychologist who told me i could not possibly have AS because WOMEN DO NOT GET IT!
THen i eventually saw and Autism specialist who diagnosed me throroughly and is still my psych, and who on our first meeting said to me "I am very sorry that you are 46 and it has taken you this long to get an answer." I have had a very hard life.
I think that exemplifies the point that more education regarding women and AS and autism needs to be pursued with information disseminated via the media in the form of articles such as the one the OP posted.

As for the article - i don't agree with all its content. But the following is a short bio of a female autistic's life.

1962 - born
primary school - whizz kid and loner. one friend at a time. terrfied of other people if not members of my family. strange rituals, special interests included marbles, wine label collecting, stamp collecting, rugby league (western Suburbs under coach Roy Masters brilliant guidance), World Book Ecyclopaedias, patterns, and ALWAYS ART and painting and artists.

high school - whizz kid going wrong. one friend at a time. one friend at a time supllanted by better friend known as DRUGS and ALCOHOL. dux of year 11 and 12, top 5% of state in HSC, anorectic and bulimic, drug fiend, acid head, people continue to exist as a backdrop to my internal world and life. ritualised and routined behaviour.

leave school - uni - top some subjects, but drop out. try uni again - -excellent grades but drop out. Psychiatric unit, bulimia dn anorexia, then back to drugs again.

twenties - big time back to drugs and alcohol. hate people and hate life and cannot make sense of the world. still pursue speacial interest paiting. but drugs take over.
nice time with homelessness. delightful stay in prison - and police cells frequently - great stuff for an autistic woman.
drugs used to self-medicate autism and dull sensory issues.
streetworker...
bashings, nasty things, more nasty things, more and more nasty things. lots and lots of nasty things happening. life is one big and vicious NASTY THING for many years. murders. very scary. life very bad. lucky to survive it.

in and out of rehabs - nobody picks up on autism/AS even though i am socially abbrasive and inept.

1998 last rehab, get clean, stay clean, live quiet and solitary life and ALL energy goes into special interest which eventually becomes career.

2008 - nephew dx'ed with autism. Find out more about autism. Mother gives feedback about my early life. siblings start telling me about how weird i was. GO to an autism specialist and get dx.

2009 - still a loner, still reclusive, still painting, still do not fit anywhere, but at least not asking myself every day "what the f**k is wrong with me...why do I not get people? why can't i relate like other people? why am i so weird? why do people not like me? what do i do that puts people off? what am i not understanding? shall i just kill myself now? "


ANd for what it is worth...my story is not unlike a fair number of other women here on WP and other places diagonosed with ASD's - who have emailed or pm'ed me privately and said they have lived a similar life but have not been ready or wanting to disclose the details to others. (i have no sense of privacy in the normal way because of my autism, so i have no understanding of witholding info about my life. no edit button.)
It is also similar to a lot of men with ASD's who have contacted me and said they also have had a life like mine...espeically those who did not have the benefit of early diagnoses as happens these days.

I used to be like that...

I am certainly not of the shy, introverted type. I had a terrible time at my primary and junior high schools, rejection, bullying etc. These schools were smaller and rule driven and social rules were upheld and observed strongly. I was always in trouble of some sort.

But then in high school I was sent to a chaotic, anarchic sort of large public school.. I was really happy at that school, apart from some bullying but not anywhere near the bullying I got from the rule-driven schools.

So the opposite seemed to be true of me. I am so glad I wasnt sent to a quiet private school, or a girl's school... I would have got more of the same.