In last weekend's Celebs magazine in the Sunday Mirror, there was a v interesting article. It was all about Asperger's/Autism in females and why it is harder to diagnose than it is in boys. Being a female, this got me curious. Here is what the expert said in the report. It is thought that up until now, autism has mainly been a male thing. Think 'Rain Man', and that the male has been detail-obsessed, mathetically minded. But it is now reported that Asperger's in girls (Aspergirls) is rising. The reason why it is more difficult to diagnose in females is that it shows up differently in girls. They are not fixated with typical male things, rather girly things. It is the intensity of the fixation that is autistic not the subject. There was a small part of it that said that friendship is a challenge for girls with Asperger's, and I know this to be true. I will blog about this at a later date in more detail about my school life, but generally I did find it hard to make friends by myself at both primary and secondary schools, and I only managed to do so by tagging on to other girls/groups. The only friend I see now and then to date, was part of a group of girls I tagged on to at secondary school. One of the other traits is extreme perfection, which can lead to low esteem if things don't work out. That is not me.
There is one thing that I do agree with at the end of the report. The expert reported that even women in their 50s and 60s are now being diagnosed, and they have benefitted enormously from it, now having a better understanding of themselves. I can relate to that, as after I was diagnosed last year, lots of pieces of a jigsaw slotted into place for me, and I now have a better idea of who I am and what I can do.
So, are you an adult with Asperger's? If so, do you agree with this report. Are you a parent with a daughter who has Asperger's, and have you found it has been hard to get diagnosis? Let me know. Would like to find out what other people think about this.
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