Asperger's and Girls Read Free Page A

under-diagnosed population. If this is true, some of the reasons may be attributed to gender differences.
    Are there behaviors that are seen in girls with Asperger’s, but not in boys, that we haven’t yet identified as part of the profile, or certain gender-related behavior that might fool us into ruling out the diagnosis? What about the “pretend play” that has been observed in many young girls at our center, which on the surface appears to be quite creative and imaginative? There seem to be many girls (on the spectrum) who are enamored with princesses, fantasy kingdoms, unicorns, and animals. How many diagnosticians observe these interests and skills as imagination, and rule out a diagnosis based on these behaviors? Might this interest in imaginary kingdoms and talking animals be more common among girls than boys, yet still exist alongside other autistic/AS traits?
    And what about one typical response to confusion or frustration —hitting or other such outward expressions of frustration? Does this type of acting out occur more often in boys with autism than in girls? Is confusion or frustration simply easier to identify in boys than girls because we already look for it? Among the general population, it is commonly thought that boys do “act out” more than girls. (You sometimes hear a teacher complain there are too many boys in his or her class, and about its impact on the class’s personality!) Is it easier to identify boys as having autism because their behaviors are more obvious than those of girls who may experience inward or passive signs of aggression?
    Professionals whose task it is to diagnose individuals with autism or Asperger’s need to learn more about the full range of qualities and personality differences unique to girls and women on the spectrum.
    And what about the girls’ and women’s route to self-understanding? Indeed, several women I have worked with who have Asperger’s have talked about the unique challenges they experience because they constitute a “minority” within this special group of society.
    I believe that in order to gain self-understanding, each person with—or without—autism needs to see his or her own reflection in the world. I call this “seeing one’s place.” For people with autism or AS, who are already challenged in this area, it becomes imperative that they meet, listen to, talk with, read about, and learn from others with autism. What happens as a result of this coming together is that they are able to see their “reflection” and better understand their own unique styles of thinking and being. Women with autism, although benefiting greatly from getting to know other people with autism, often find that they are the only woman (or one of very few women) in the group.
    When I asked the women we see at our center if they would be interested in being in a women’s group, I had hoped that the group could fill a gap in our services. I also hoped that I would learn more about what it means to be a woman with autism. The more I meet with these women, the more I realize we have far to go in understanding the unique challenges that women with autism or Asperger’s face.
    One woman explained that, from her perspective, there is subtle interaction between two sets of issues. “Problems related to the [autism] spectrum are combined with problems of society’s expectations of women. How one looks, what one wears, how one is supposed to relate socially, that a woman is supposed to have a natural empathy towards others, expectations about dating and marriage....” Women are affected by autism in the same ways as their male counterparts; however, they are doubly challenged by the added assumptions that society places on the female gender.
    At the risk of stereotyping, any man who is a rational thinker and not emotionally in tune with others is often thought of as having “typical male behavior” (think of the TV show Home Improvement ). A woman exhibiting these same