You mean professional diagnosed out your own volition, right?
I have no doubt that the outward appearance of Asperger Syndrome in women may very well be different than for men. It seems to me that the sympotoms are more obvious in males than females.....but maybe thats because men(and boys Especially)are more scrutinized than women.
Self-diagnosed, but I have no doubt that I could get professionally diagnosed if I needed (or wanted) to.
Meiyolin:
It's significant because AS shows up differently in many women, and we may well be underdiagnosed because the cultural and biological differences in our temperaments make AS look different.
I think you're right Callista.
But nonetheless, AS still appears to be MUCH more common in men than in women. Unlike say bipolar disorder which seems to be equally common in men and women.
a proble reasonboys are easier to spot han girls is the tendency to clumess the messes up with sports.
Meiyolin:
It's significant because AS shows up differently in many women, and we may well be underdiagnosed because the cultural and biological differences in our temperaments make AS look different.
Someone told me that in women where the gene is present, but doesn't express itself too "actively," it may show up as mild clumsiness/disorganization. For instance, poor motor skills, and so on.
All of the above fits my mother, but she doesn't have the empathy problem whatsoever.
I've just been reading about the Aspie/gender issue....
Girls' special interest patterns often don't look the same as boys' (one reason I think the SQ section of the Baron-Cohen tests needs some work.) There's also a high rate of Aspie women being misdiagnosed by professionals as having OCD, depression, and/or BPD. Professionals have been hearing for decades that the autism spectrum is dominated by boys, and some aren't going to think of the possibility in a female client.
Girls who are quiet and somewhat non-social might be overlooked because it's more acceptable in many cultures for girls to be "shy".
Yes, that's exactly what happened with me - the autism wasn't picked up sooner because most of the time I was shy and quiet and non-social. I was (am) quite disorganised except for islands of areas where I am super-organised eg. remembering birthdays. I have a very good memory for dates and lists and phone numbers. I was mainly considered just strange .
Yes, that's exactly what happened with me - the autism wasn't picked up sooner because most of the time I was shy and quiet and non-social. I was (am) quite disorganised except for islands of areas where I am super-organised eg. remembering birthdays. I have a very good memory for dates and lists and phone numbers. I was mainly considered just strange .
That is very similar to how it was for me, it's kind of weird how sometimes autism *isn't* picked up because you are withdrawn and quiet (unless talking about interests etc.), isn't it? I mean you'd think that would be a bit of a clue, right? 
This is exactly the same for me.
Everyone just thought I was "really shy" or "really quiet" or, in some cases, just "weird."
I'm 25 now and it still seems that everyone sees me as one of the above three, or all three at the same time.
How would I be able to convince a diagnostician of Asperger's, if my "normal" way of being is just restrained and withdrawn?
I'm not a woman but I was professionally diagnosed.
I prefer the company of men. Most of my friends are male, even though I'm female. I've often thought women tend to be too emotional and two-faced; men won't ask you to fill in for their therapist unless it's actually important (rather than some weepy bitchfest about how her boyfriend is disrespectful because he ate the last Pop-Tart) and if a guy has a problem with something, he's about as subtle as a divebomber.
I wonder, maybe that's got something to do with my possible AS? Hmmmm... *ponders*
And it's ridiculous that it should be so expensive to find a formal diagnosis.
I've just been reading about the Aspie/gender issue....
Girls' special interest patterns often don't look the same as boys' (one reason I think the SQ section of the Baron-Cohen tests needs some work.) There's also a high rate of Aspie women being misdiagnosed by professionals as having OCD, depression, and/or BPD. Professionals have been hearing for decades that the autism spectrum is dominated by boys, and some aren't going to think of the possibility in a female client.
Girls who are quiet and somewhat non-social might be overlooked because it's more acceptable in many cultures for girls to be "shy".
I could have written the above comment word for word! I was kind of P.O.ed that I didn't score higher on Baron-Cohen's SQ test, especially since I have a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering!
I think Aspie women fly under the radar for all of these reasons:
it's OK to be shy (and in fact is bad to be "forward"),
we may have some built-in social advantage as females that compensates somewhat for our Aspieness, something the males lack completely,
we CAN get by on our looks if our behavior is not too bizarre,
we may tend less towards violence, unlike our Aspie brothers, so we are less noticeable than they are,
and if we have just ONE kind NT girlfriend who can show us the ropes and keep us from going too far off course, someone who values us for who we are, we can pass for normal.
BTW, I'm self-diagnosed, and waiting for a windfall to get officially diagnosed. Someone wrote about providing paperwork in advance to the diagnostician. What kind of paperwork? I have diaries. I think they make it fairly plain, but surely no "professional" would want to look at them??
SO glad to find an online group that can select out the females!!
I was diagnosed as manic-depressive. My psychiatrist was pretty sure there was something going on, but he was way off-base.