Autism is a lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world, according to the National Autistic Society.
The charity says that more than one in 100 people are on the autism spectrum and there are around 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK. Up until now, it was assumed that autistic people were overwhelmingly men and boys, and only very rarely women and girls.
However, this is wrong. This week, Christine McGuinness opened up about her life with autism in a new BBC One documentary, Unmasking My Autism. The TV star delved into the world of autism and why women are being diagnosed much later in life than their male counterparts.
Read More: NHS list of autism signs in children and how parents can seek a diagnosis
Discussing her own experiences in the documentary, Christine said: "I was really nervous about doing a documentary based on autistic women and girls because there are boys and men out there who are autistic too and I didn't want it to come across as sexist. But there are so many women being diagnosed later in life because it is misunderstood and they're masking or not showing it. It's so important that it changes because those women probably needed help and support when they were girls at school."
She added: "I remember it being the worst time of my life to the point where I didn't want to learn. There was just so much going on in my head. It's sad to think there are teenage girls who are feeling exactly the same."
Various studies suggest that the ratio of autistic males to females ranges from 2:1 to 16:1. The most-up-to-date estimate is 3:1. More women and girls than ever before are discovering that they are autistic as outdated stereotypes around the condition are being broken down, reports Wales Online.
The National Autistic Society says that because of stereotyped ideas about what autism looks like, many women and girls struggle to get a diagnosis. The society says that women and girls are more likely to "mask" their autistic traits.
In school, autistic girls may be more likely to be part of a friendship group, so teachers may not notice their differences. Their academic achievements may also mask that they are facing difficulties in other areas.
The National Autistic Society says: "Some of the core characteristics of autism are having ‘repetitive behaviours’ and highly-focused interests. Stereotyped examples of these include rocking backwards and forwards, and a fascination with trains. However, in autistic women and girls these behaviours and interests may be similar to those of non-autistic women and girls, such as twirling hair and reading books, and as such may go unnoticed despite the greater intensity or focus typical for autistic people."
Main signs of autism in adults
According to the NHS, the main signs of autism in adults include:
- finding it hard to understand what others are thinking or feeling
- getting very anxious about social situations
- finding it hard to make friends or preferring to be on your own
- seeming blunt, rude or not interested in others without meaning to
- finding it hard to say how you feel
- taking things very literally – for example, you may not understand sarcasm or phrases like "break a leg"
- having the same routine every day and getting very anxious if it changes
Other signs of autism
- not understanding social "rules", such as not talking over people
- avoiding eye contact
- getting too close to other people, or getting very upset if someone touches or gets too close to you
- noticing small details, patterns, smells or sounds that others do not
- having a very keen interest in certain subjects or activities
- liking to plan things carefully before doing them
Autism in women
Autistic women may:
- have learned to hide signs of autism to ‘fit in’ - by copying people who don’t have autism
- be quieter and hide their feelings
- appear to cope better with social situations
- show fewer signs of repetitive behaviours
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