Women can be autistic too.
In some parts of the world and society, autism is still thought to occur only in men and boys. Of course, this is not the case but because of this misconception, women and girls obviously have it harder in this hypersocial society that is set up for extroverts.
Only about 1% of the world’s population is autistic.
But I suspect the number will be much higher because not everyone who is autistic is actually diagnosed. Added to this is the fact that sometimes women and girls are not even diagnosed correctly.
They’re being sent from one expert to the other and don’t get proper answers about themselves.
Are There Really Less Autistic Women?
According to autism.org, one in three autistic people are female.
That’s a bizarrely small number. The distribution between men and women on earth is about 1:1. Which means there are about as many women as men on earth. So it is unlikely that this ratio of autistic women is correct.
The problem with diagnosing women is that doctors often don’t know what’s happening because a certain social expectation pattern is created for women. This causes a woman or girl to pretend to be very social in everyday life, and then it is just assumed that she is not autistic but just very shy or she is depressed.
This is called masking. Adopting other people’s behavior to be as inconspicuous as possible in society. A combination of other people’s behavior.
This, of course, takes a lot of energy. You are exhausted and need to take a break. Something that probably doesn’t happen in neurotypical people.
Society Desires More Social Skills From Women
Autistic boys and men are expected to have almost no social skills. Because they are autistic right? Apparently, that’s a free pass for men but not for women.
In general, they are expected to be able to be social and interact with people in a fun way.
That’s what women do right?
Women with high-functioning autism especially have a hard time in this society where everything is judged by your behavior and the way you treat people.
An incredibly difficult task every day.
They actually fall between the cracks. High-functioning autism ensures that there is no intelligence problem but is often a social problem. So you often can’t tell at first glance that they are autistic.
But inside they have a hard time.
Talk About And With Autistic Women
Many women can explain incredibly well what is going on but many don’t feel the need to talk about this. It takes a lot of empathy and many people know nothing about autism.
It is time to talk about this. It is more common than you think.
Fortunately, we are becoming more normalized and we should take our rest when necessary. As a tip to autistic women who struggle with this, go take a nap when you are socially tired.
It will help and people just need to accept this. After all, this is about the mental health of people.
Final Thoughts
So society is not set up for autistic people and introverts. Everyone needs to be social and otherwise is quickly labeled as ‘weird’.
We just need a little more time to settle into a situation.
That’s often misunderstood and I think we need a shift in our society and our minds that ‘quiet’ people aren’t always the weird ones or the shy ones. That’s just not the same.
If you want to help, try to connect with autistic people. Not by applying pressure but by letting us feel comfortable.
That would be nice.