More FB posts on autism
Apr. 7th, 2021 08:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greenstormMost folks' first image of someone with autism is a straight white geeky guy who's a huge jerk. I won't reference the fictional TV shows. IMO they don't deserve it.
In reality gender diversity and autistic folks go together: there's a high correlation between autism and being trans, non-heterosexual, gender-nonconforming, etc. Some folks say that's because autistic folks already lie outside social norms, so they need to question them, and they're more likely to reject them. Other folks say that implied social pressures are less effective on autistic folks so they're more likely to accept these differences in themselves, so the autistic population reflects the true prevalence of various gender stuff that neurotypical folks hide even from themselves.
Either way, gender has a profound effect on autism diagnoses. There is a lot written and spoken about autism in women and how it presents differently than in men-- autism's social differences tend to be turned inwards and hidden rather than turned outwards where they bother people. We only tend to diagnose people who bother us; our model cares much less about folks who only harm themselves, at least until they harm themselves enough that they can't function. What was originally -- and still all too often is -- called the "female presentation" of autism is inward-turning like that. I'm including a list of these underdiagnosed traits here.
This type of presentation was first understood as applied to women and named the "female type". In my own life I'm still rebounding from the experience of "supposed to be a woman" and my response tends to be to the gender category rather than the content being presented about autism. Still, the basic diagnostic criteria and expected autistic behaviours tend to be seen when they manifest as written in men. They are less looked-for in women and so they are less seen. The "women's" autistic presentation is common in women, and also present in men, non-binary, and other-gendered folks and leads to later and less likely diagnosis or discovery.
I'm still very new to learning about all this. A huge percentage of autistic folks are nonbinary. I have real trouble tracking down their voices. If you would like to give me a gift, track down a writing or a video or something by a nonbinary autistic person and link it to me please?
In the meantime here's the "unofficial autism in women" checklist (more properly, less-diagnosed autistic traits) and some women talking about this other type of autism:
https://the-art-of-autism.com/females-and-aspergers-a-checklist/
https://youtu.be/P3ohpP5q3m0
https://youtu.be/YAhQJ08bzgs
In reality gender diversity and autistic folks go together: there's a high correlation between autism and being trans, non-heterosexual, gender-nonconforming, etc. Some folks say that's because autistic folks already lie outside social norms, so they need to question them, and they're more likely to reject them. Other folks say that implied social pressures are less effective on autistic folks so they're more likely to accept these differences in themselves, so the autistic population reflects the true prevalence of various gender stuff that neurotypical folks hide even from themselves.
Either way, gender has a profound effect on autism diagnoses. There is a lot written and spoken about autism in women and how it presents differently than in men-- autism's social differences tend to be turned inwards and hidden rather than turned outwards where they bother people. We only tend to diagnose people who bother us; our model cares much less about folks who only harm themselves, at least until they harm themselves enough that they can't function. What was originally -- and still all too often is -- called the "female presentation" of autism is inward-turning like that. I'm including a list of these underdiagnosed traits here.
This type of presentation was first understood as applied to women and named the "female type". In my own life I'm still rebounding from the experience of "supposed to be a woman" and my response tends to be to the gender category rather than the content being presented about autism. Still, the basic diagnostic criteria and expected autistic behaviours tend to be seen when they manifest as written in men. They are less looked-for in women and so they are less seen. The "women's" autistic presentation is common in women, and also present in men, non-binary, and other-gendered folks and leads to later and less likely diagnosis or discovery.
I'm still very new to learning about all this. A huge percentage of autistic folks are nonbinary. I have real trouble tracking down their voices. If you would like to give me a gift, track down a writing or a video or something by a nonbinary autistic person and link it to me please?
In the meantime here's the "unofficial autism in women" checklist (more properly, less-diagnosed autistic traits) and some women talking about this other type of autism:
https://the-art-of-autism.com/females-and-aspergers-a-checklist/
https://youtu.be/P3ohpP5q3m0
https://youtu.be/YAhQJ08bzgs
