Aspies For Freedom

Girls' autism 'under-diagnosed'

Girls with autism may not be identified because they do not show traditional signs of the disorder, an expert warns.

Children with autistic spectrum disorders have poor social and communication skills.

Hyperactivity, and interests in technical hobbies have been seen as characteristics of the disorder.

But Christopher Gillberg, of the National Centre of Autism Studies, said girls were often passive and collected information on people, not things.

Around 535,000 people in the UK are estimated to have autistic spectrum disorders.

The number of boys diagnosed is much greater than the number of girls, but Professor Gillberg said the difference in incidence may not be as great as currently thought.


'Outsiders'

His theory is partly influenced by studies which did not find what they were expected to.

Researchers had looked at the male X chromosome, to see if genetic faults there could influence a boy's risk of developing the condition.

But no conclusive link has been found.

Professor Gillberg said: "Scientists had been very surprised that, so far, so little has come out of research into the X chromosome.

"But it may be that girls present differently to boys.

"The number of females with autism spectrum disorders may be under-diagnosed."

He said studies, including one his team had carried out into women with anorexia who were also autistic, as well as his own clinical practice, had shown the gender difference.

He added: "Autism may be behind many cases of anorexia. A girl may be withdrawn and uncommunicative, without attracting attention, but when she develops a calorie fixation it becomes a serious problem.

"Counting calories may be a manifestation of autism.

"I've seen quite a number of cases where the anorexia has become completely entrenched because people haven't understood that underlying the eating disorder is autism."


Lists

Professor Gillberg said that, at an earlier age girls with autism were likely to be more passive and not as active or aggressive as boys with autism are - and may be seen as simply shy.

"With some girls, there's a perception they are outsiders, someone who can't really mix with other children.

"They may tend to either avoid other children, or be on the periphery of the group."

He said boys were likely to show interest in technical or maths-related hobbies, whereas girls were more interested in people.

"They may have hobbies such as compiling books about their 'so-called' friends, and may make lists of their names and the colour of their eyes and hair, but not actually interact with them."

Professor Gillberg said girls may be perceived as simply shy, and parents and teachers may not realise there's a problem.

He added that differences in the way girls and boys learn to speak could also mask signs of autistic disorders.

"Girls tend to use language immediately, and use new words as soon as they hear them. Boys have longer periods of repeating what they know and processing what they are learning."

He said both genders may have the same combination of autism genes, but girls' natural linguistic ability may hide the associated language difficulties.

"Autistic spectrum disorders may be more difficult to pick up in girls, because they have superior linguistic abilities."

Judith Gould, director of the National Autistic Society's Diagnostic Centre, said: "We still know so little about this complex lifelong disability that it is essential we continue to question current thinking and suggest alternative theories for its prevalence.

"We would certainly agree we are probably missing autism in girls due to the different way in which it often manifests itself in females.

"We would also agree that anorexia, which is predominantly diagnosed in girls, could be linked to autism in an unknown proportion of cases."


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/he...630705.stm

Published: 2005/06/28

I think you're right, becca.  I think we're all individuals and, therefore, all unique -- and while we, as Aspies, may have some fundamental things in common, surely we all have our difference, too.

I hope all goes well with you and that you continue to be a recovered anorexic.    

My own difficulty that, I think, stems from my Aspie-nature (specifically my lack of understanding of what motivates people) is that I am codependent (I am very much working toward overcoming this!).  Any other Aspies out there codependent? >>

"Codependence (or codependency) is a psychological condition in which someone exhibits too much, and often inappropriate, caring for other people's struggles."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codependency

"Professor Gillberg said that, at an earlier age girls with autism were likely to be more passive and not as active or aggressive as boys with autism are - and may be seen as simply shy.

"With some girls, there's a perception they are outsiders, someone who can't really mix with other children.

"They may tend to either avoid other children, or be on the periphery of the group."

I agree with this under-diagnosis of girls theory.

"Judith Gould, director of the National Autistic Society's Diagnostic Centre, said: "We still know so little about this complex lifelong disability that it is essential we continue to question current thinking and suggest alternative theories for its prevalence."

I am really glad that this has been stated, there is still so little known, no-one can truly be an expert, and professionals need to have some flexibility and not make '100% rules'.

Good luck with the newspaper article, Tenaciouscj.

There are quite a few things in that article that I find questionable, but I do agree with the main idea that autism is probably under-diagnosed in females.

I think it is misleading if Gillberg is suggesting that autism is the cause of anorexia. I know one woman who is a recovered anorexic, and while she certainly is odd and childish, she is certainly not autistic in any way, quite the opposite, and extreme extrovert. I don't know any male or female aspies IRL who have any interest in counting calories or recording details about people.

I wasn't much interested in people till well into my adult years. I have met an unusual lady once who had a very pedantic way of talking and also seemed to have an obsession about thinking up complex psychological explanations for people's personal problems. She was obviously smart but was no good at listening to people and picking up an understanding of them and she seemd to be trying to make up for this by concocting these elaborate theories. Maybe she is more like the female aspie that Gillberg was thinking of. But I'm sure there are other female aspies who just find most people stupid and annoying.

The idea that female aspies are generally more articulate than males seems like a generalisation with no basis. One of the most inarticulate people that I know is a female aspie. I think the lack of communication ability is disguised to most people by her very proper-sounding accent, but when you get to know her you realise it's just a cover.

I recently read that dyslexia was thought to mostly affect boys, but is now being picked up in more girls, and could have an even sex ratio. I think it's just a case that parents are unconsciously or consciously less concerned about their daughters and their daughters' future earning prospects, so they don't bother to notice oddities or difficulties in daughters.

Oh, I absolutlely agree.  I don't think at all that I am necessarily codependent because of Asperger's -- what I do think, though, is that being an Aspie has predisposed me to be codependent.  I didn't grow up with an alcoholic parent (I'm sorry to hear that you did) -- but I did grow up in a single-parent household with a mother who was very self-absorbed.  This environment + my Aspie-nature led to my being codependent.

Of course, all Aspies are not necessarily codependent -- nor are all codependent people on the autistic spectrum.  In other words, I think I do have both lice AND fleas.   :wink:

This soooo describes how I was as a child (and how I still very much AM as an adult!).

It is the same here, though people don't often talk about it. I think the government needs to step in and research some new remedies.

Just in case anyone took me literally there -- I was just joking (referring to the fact that I am both an Aspie AND a codependent person).  I'm not a host to either lice or fleas (although, the neighbors' kids apparently have head lice -- I'm staying away from them for the moment!).

Just in case!  

That was me as a child, but instead of avoiding other children, I was bullied during elementary school. I wasn't diagnosed with Asperger's until I was an adult because when I was growing up, people didn't know about Asperger's, just low-functioning Autistic boys.

As for lice, it's a huge problem. I haven't had it since I was a kid, but friends of mine who teach kindergarten deal with head lice a few times a year.

Very similar for me ADoyle. Though as school life progressed for me, and there was more responsibility to be organised, homework, get to lessons on time, it all fell apart, and the problems I was having became more and more apparent.

Homework! :cry:  :evil:  :?  :mad:

Me, too.  Particularly in Junior High -- or when I was 12 & 13.  That's when it was very bad.  I was alternately teased and ostracized by most of my fellow classmates (although not all).  Fortunately, things got better in High School 'cause it was a much bigger, all-girls school and I could manage to get lost in the crowd.  Junior High left lots of scars, though -- that still smart to this day.  :|

In the UK, none of the chemical really work anymore, you are supposed to comb the hair every other day with a purpose made 'nit comb' whilst the hair is slightly wet and with some conditioner on it.

That is because the lice are easier to remove if they are wet as they have to close their breathing holes.

You need to keep combing after all the crawling lice are removed, as there can still be eggs that will hatch.

For prevention, long hair should be tied up, as in a bun, and once a fortnight combed through with the nit comb to detect any new infestation.

Don't ask me how I have had to become such an expert on the subject... :roll:

I find the nit comb and conditioner method is cheap and reliable, but lots of conditioner must be used, and it must be repeated till all generations of the lice family have been washed down the drain. Oh what a lot of fun it is to do this treatment on a child who has long hair and sensory sensitivity, who likes to scream a lot ... NOT!

The stuff about washing bed linen for head lice is bunkum. Body lice and head lice are two completely different kinds of creatures, and head lice can't live off of a head for any length of time.