Autism in women and girls

[InSlovakiaTheCapitalOfCourseIsBratislava]

If something has different symptoms, it is generally regarded as a different illness / condition
Expert and developmental psychologist Uta Frith made some observations about the symptoms of autism often being very different in women and girls to how it often presents in men and boys.
So would it unreasonable for it not to be something totally different? Still a form of neurodivergence but not what is actually autism
You obviously get girls/women with the “classic” symptoms (eg Temple Grandin), and presumably there are boys who aren’t being diagnosed with whatever the neurodivergence actually is, because their symptoms are the same as those more common in women and girls - which aren’t being looked for in a lad

"I do think failing to differentiate between severe and mild is an oversight - everyone may struggle but some struggles are bigger than others and most people know what is meant when someone describes it as severe/profound even if it isn’t official terminology)"

What is severe/profound in your eyes?

I'm not massively keen on the idea of levels. For starters it's not really about 'support'- they actually describe presentations, not the specific type of support people need or the intensity (and doesn't really account for co-occuring LDs). Secondly, it's a very fixed medical model of disability - in the right environment a person could move from a 2 to a 1. It doesn't place any responsibility on the external environment to adapt at all.

It's basically invented for insurance companies and shouldn't be treated as any kind of objective 'measure'.

The USA levels care need not autism and that comes with a caveat highlighted by DSM that care needs can change. Indeed my children have all changed with care needs ( 1 from 1 to 2) (2 from 2 to 3 ), male and female.