The other 25%: Autistic girls and women

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive developmental disorder characterized by impairments in social and communicative abilities, along with the presence of ritualistic and/or repetitive behaviors. One of the under-researched areas in the ASD literature is the large gender difference in the diagnosis rates. On average, the male to female ratio stands at 4.3:1, increasing to 9:1 in the absence of comorbid intellectual impairment. It has been evidenced that compared to boys, ASD is diagnosed later in cognitively able girls, despite there being no difference in the number of visits to a health-care professional during the diagnostic process and the age at which parents first express concern. The suboptimal identification of the disorder in cognitively able girls causes a large magnitude of gender discrepancy. These statistics may not be accurate since females may camouflage their difficulties and may be undetected due to their ability to disguise their symptoms better than males. The other hypothesis of under diagnosing ASD in girls is how we quantify and diagnose it. It is based on a male-centric presentation, which does not accurately reflect the disorder in girls. Altogether, these differences may make it more challenging for medical professionals and clinicians to identify potential early signs of the disorder in girls. Hence, there is a need to develop programs to mentor girls and women on the autism spectrum in schools, colleges and industry. And there should be an insistence on inclusion of females on the autism spectrum in pharmacological research and other research projects.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.