Girls and autismGirls and autism
All In The Mind
Most people tend to think of autism as a male disorder, the character in the film Rain Man often comes to mind. But emerging research shows that girls often have different symptoms which cause them to slip through the net.
28:50•3 Jan 2016
Girls and Autism: Why So Many Go Unseen
Episode Overview
- Autism in girls and women often looks different from male stereotypes, leading to underdiagnosis and misdiagnosis.
- Many females use masking or social mimicking to copy peers, hiding social difficulties from clinicians and teachers.
- Conditions like anxiety, depression, OCD and eating disorders can overshadow underlying autism in girls.
- Early diagnosis and targeted social-thinking interventions can reduce later anxiety and support better adjustment.
- Biological and social factors, including the female protective effect, may both contribute to gender differences in autism.
“"You never get cured of autism. But what you do is you learn more and more things."”
What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? Here, the focus shifts to autism, shining a light on girls and women who often slip through the diagnostic net. The episode centres on how autism spectrum disorder (ASD) presents differently in females and why those differences matter. Professor Francesca Happé explains that while statistics suggest four times as many males are diagnosed, this may say more about how autism is recognised than how often it actually occurs.
She points out that girls can "mask" their difficulties, sometimes by copying a classmate or colleague so closely that clinicians miss the underlying struggle. Clinical psychologist Dr Janine Mangiviona shares her experience that girls are frequently underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed, with labels like anxiety, depression, OCD or eating disorders overshadowing autism. She notes that teenage years often bring these issues to the surface, especially as social demands intensify and girls with ASD become more vulnerable to bullying and isolation.
Hannah Belcher, diagnosed with Asperger’s at 23, describes years of treatment for anxiety that never addressed the root cause. She talks about her "social mimicking" and soothing repetitive behaviours that were mistaken for other conditions. Her current research looks at how this kind of copying might be hiding many women from diagnosis.
Parent Donna Rigoni adds a powerful family perspective, contrasting her son and daughter’s different autistic traits, and sharing how early intervention and social-thinking programmes have helped her daughter Ayla manage sensory issues, social communication and anxiety. Throughout, you’ll hear about theories such as the "female protective effect" and the "extreme male brain", alongside very human accounts of fear, resilience and identity.
If you’ve ever wondered whether a girl in your life might be struggling behind a polite, capable façade, this conversation may prompt fresh questions and bring some clarity. Could understanding these gender differences be the key to better support, kinder diagnoses and less needless suffering for autistic girls and women?
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