Lexington County, SC: Autism diagnosis rates have been rising steadily over the years, but researchers have also noticed an important gap. One group is still being overlooked and not getting the attention it needs: girls. (This news story was first published in 2017.)
As boys are diagnosed more often, is autism diagnosis biased towards boys?
It can be very hard to tell whether a girl has ASD. Michelle Hunt says this is the case with her daughter, who was diagnosed with autism at a young age, even though you can’t tell by looking at her. Hunt explains, “About the time she should have been babbling more and pointing more, we started noticing that she was losing interest in people.”
I did not want a diagnosis. I did not want that label. But that label opened so many doors for her, starting the early intervention and the ABA therapy; and you know, I am so glad that we did what we did, when we did it. We’ve done ABA since she was a little girl. We continue to do speech therapy now, and I really think that has been something that has brought her to where she is today, Hunt said.
Her daughter goes to school and has an active social life, and her mother credits the early diagnosis for opening the door to support. She says, “She, of course, rides horses. She rides jet skis. She bowls with the Special Olympics. She plays full-court tennis; she and I play doubles together for the Special Olympics. So she’s able to do a lot of different things, but like I said, her main issue is speech and we work on that daily.”
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Her mother also makes an important point: “If you stopped us in a restaurant and tried to carry on a conversation with her, asking different questions, you would start getting the repetitive speech and that type of thing and you would think, ‘OK something is not quite right.’ But just at first glance on a good day, you know, you would never be able to tell.”
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This is one of the main reasons why girls are often diagnosed later in life than boys. Toni Boucher highlights these differences and teaches about them in small, close-knit seminars.
Boucher says, “What research is showing us is that girls and women on the spectrum are very, very different. They are biologically different. They’re neurologically different. And they are behaviorally different from their male counterparts.”
Boucher further says, “Assessment tools that are developed for autism are male-biased. They used males to determine what the autistic characteristics are.”
Another factor in autism diagnosis is a person’s intelligence quotient (IQ). Girls with an IQ below 70 tend to be diagnosed earlier, while those who score above 70 are more likely to be misdiagnosed, or not diagnosed at all until much later in life.
Experts and parents tend to agree on the value of an early diagnosis, because it opens the door to the right support sooner. Hunt says her daughter’s early support has helped her enormously and played an important role in her life, though she admits she is unsure what the future holds.
Toni Boucher and Michelle Hunt both highlight the importance of research and agree that more is needed to understand autism, especially in girls. Hunt says, “Autism is still a mystery, and probably will be for a long time. We did not plan on this path, but I am blessed and honored that God chose us to be her parents.”
I am Ash and I celebrate Neurodiversity! Growing up with an elder brother with severe Autism was tough – but it has also taught me essential life lessons. I don’t believe that people with Autism are necessarily or have any disorder (except in extreme cases). They are just different! And that is something to be proud of! I am passionate about helping other families who may have Autism conditions in their family. So please reach out and drop me a note. I will be glad to help 🙂
