Autism In Girls Expert Shares 'Mind Blowing' & 'Terrible' Statistics

Comments · 129

• FE

  @FenstarDeLuxe · 1 year ago

  With regard to people seeking out a diagnosis - I recently had a client who was rejected as being autistic because they were able to make eye contact. So it's definitely still happening in 2025, which is phenomenally ridiculous.

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• DO

  @donagaleta · 1 year ago

  Wonderful woman🙏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻. I am from Barcelona, self diagnosed in 2020, diagnosed in 2024 at 55! My psychologist in 2021: "No, I don't think you are autisric, because you are married, have children and a job".  All my life being "Very Shy", bullied by teachers, children, all my class mates in high school, having situational mutism... Nobody saw anything.

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• EL

  @eledatowle8767 · 1 year ago

  One aspect you missed mentioning with regard to young women and puberty is the social and sexual harassment by boys at that age.  The comments and "jokes" aimed at girls about periods and puberty-related changes are horrific.  That's not even mentioning those who are actually assaulted.  Support for girls of that age is very important.

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• CA

  @catherinepainter2734 · 1 year ago

  Hated trying to navigate around university trying so hard to find places and feeling like people were never giving me accurate directions. Now later in life, I hate it if I’m supposed to meet up at a cafe or restaurant, I have gone to the wrong one on several occasions, then sat there and waited until I finally get someone on the phone. I don’t feel I’m given enough information.

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• JI

  @jillybe1873 · 3 months ago

  Just diagnosed autistic at 67. It was SO obvious throughout my life, parents and teachers always said something was wrong but they didn't know what. I'm  grateful to have clarity at last though, and it helps with social things and god bless noise cancelling headphones

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• LA

  @laurenswell85 · 1 year ago

  Oooh I just realised who Cathy’s husband is - Elliott Wassell. <br><br>I enjoyed a brilliant webinar he did last year about autistic joy, which is his research interest. <br><br>The study is now published in ‘Disability and Society’ journal and is freely available online. So great to see a positive take on autistic research and the neurotype itself (while of course researching, understanding and reducing the crap we deal with is also essential).<br><br>Respect and gratitude to the Wassell’s and everyone else making positive contributions to the world of neurodivergence 🙌🏻💛♾️

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• RA

  @rachelevans6711 · 1 year ago (edited)

  Diagnosed ADHD here, being assessed for ASD, again, 1 week from today. My autism has been missed several times, once dismissed by GP as I couomake eye contact. My son has diagnosed ASD and ADHD, and doesn&apos;t like football. I remember getting lost on my way to my lessons, turning up late, and to the wrong classroom. ADHD and ASD run all through my family, and my brother and I used to pretend to be foxes when we were young kids.

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• MA

  @mazz3736 · 1 year ago

  At secondary school you have multiple teachers, not all of them were nice in my experience.

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• OL

  @olenick9590 · 1 year ago

  As a mother I studied a psychology degree and a masters in aba and self studied and worked with autistics for 15years....and still I&apos;m shocked at how in &apos;denial&apos; autistics/ADHD/fasd/ parents are....a staggering proportion of folks in Ireland think suicide and death by accident (speed ..stealing cars) is a parent&apos;s problem....but if the parents aren&apos;t coping (poverty, addiction, immaturity, neurodivergence, prisoned partner, acquisitive partner....not parented parents...death/dead mothers so no prefrontal cortex management)....it&apos;s sad....I hope the Cinderella complex as an autistic coping mechanism gets addressed...it&apos;s for societally normative but masks horrific codependence and domestic violence that&apos;s accepted 🤢🤮

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• _R

  @_RuiBunny · 1 year ago

  Talking about the anxiety of going to class just reminded me that even to this day, in new settings I need to actually be guided by <b>someone I know, not staff</b> to the toilets so I can mentally map the next time I go by myself

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• SU

  @susantalebzadeh9741 · 1 year ago

  This was a great chat! I learned so much and felt great validation for my life’s experiences at 48 and female. I go for my diagnostic day in 2 days

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• KA

  @KateChew-x2s · 1 year ago

  Brilliant overview of the internal presentation of autism that affects mostly girls and the massive oversight of all these girls when it comes to assessment, and support. Thanks heaps Cathy and Ben

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