Sonia Chand

Even though we have come quite a ways from the 1980s and 1990s when it comes to understanding ASD, we are still significantly lacking when it comes to understanding females. Females with ASD are quite often not diagnosed until later in life; whereas males are quicker to get diagnosed. Why is that? It's because the way women present with autism doesn't "fit the bill" as men do.

When we understand the clinical presentations of women who have ASD, we are more likely to include, instead of rule out, a discussion about ASD. Topics will include masking and how misdiagnosis and under diagnosis in women are heavily based on gender bias and outdated data. Other occurrences we tend to see with women who have ASD are that they over function in their relationships they wish to have. This often leads women with ASD to over-extend themselves in ways that cause them to have burnout. Hence, a vicious cycle is created because they react in ways that cause them to shut down, thereby leaving those unfamiliar with ASD, to believe that women with ASD are acting anti-social.

The last topic to be discussed is Hyper-empathy. Contrary to the popular belief that people with ASD lack empathy, the vast majority do have empathy and have it in such a way where it lends them to being vulnerable. Therefore, women with ASD are subjected to maltreatment because they will empathize to a point where they believe it's okay to be mistreated. This once again goes to show how our current understanding of women with ASD is incomplete, but also needs to be addressed for their better emotional safety and well-being.