Autism is a feminist issue

[MistyEyedMixture]

Highlights from the article linked below

Autistic women need to be seen and heard. We need to be recognised on the feminism and equality spectrum as well as the autism one

"I’m exhausted too that academic achievement is the door policy for being invited to the table. Most of all we shouldn’t be made to feel, as autistic women, that our stories are either airbrushed from the picture as with the Chris Packham documentary Asperger’s and Me or directed and led by non-autistic people. We shouldn’t be expected to be grateful that we’ve had to force our way in to commissioning meetings about our lives. We should be pitching documentaries as I’ve been doing for years and actually get them commissioned. We can and must be an integral part of telling of our story."

Read more at: inews.co.uk/opinion/comment/autism-awareness-week-feminist/

Thanks OP. Good article.

Totally agree. I'd also suggest that autism in boys has a bigger impact on the people around them. Autism in girls tends to damage the girl more than anyone else.

But that is a gut response rather than a thought out answer.

Your welcome thought it was well worth a share

I think your gut may be on to something Pickle.

Very good. I wish there was more out there about autistic women. I think I’ve read all of it now. What did others think about the Chris Packham documentary (that the article mentions)?

Just about to post and it got lost

I think the doc showed Chris as multi dimenstional and human, often asd is portrayed at a rigid angle so did better (not perfect) there. Chris is extremely caring but struggles with empathy and that was portrayed which I thought was a step in right direction.

I worry about having poster boys for things tho and hope Chris can carry on his career without being known as 'autistic man'

Would love a documentary featuring a woman obviously. Asd is not a tiny minority, really needs representation to create a diverse environment that shows people they are not alone or 'weird' if you get what I mean!

There was one a while ago - 'Are you autistic?' On Channel 4.

Double whammy with so many girls with ASD being told they are actually men - more autistic women disappearing.

I have an autistic son, so no direct experience of autism in women/girls, but I do know a lot of people with autistic daughters.
There is definitely a gendered dimension to discourse about autism. The idea of an "extreme male brain" is pervasive. We were repeatedly told that our son's behaviour was down to him being "just a boy", rather than autistic (we did finally get a diagnosis at 8.5yrs.)

It's often said that girls display their autism differently to boys, I don't know if there's any research on whether that's nature or nurture?

I know a young girl who exhibited behaviour very similar to my son and she was very quickly diagnosed, I suspect because her behaviour was not what was expected from a girl.

OTOH lots of girls mask their problems well and aren't picked up until the turmoil of puberty and adolescence brings it out. Sadly they often go off the rails at this point and no one knows why.

I'm also interested in the overlap between asd and anorexia.

The C4 documentary mentioned above had some great young autistic women on it, and also a middle aged woman getting a diagnosis after a lifetime of not knowing why she was "different".

There was a documentary called "Girls with Autism" a couple of years ago which was quite good.
We recorded it for DD (11 at the time) and she watched it multiple times.
Have taken DD to many ASD clubs and events and not sure I buy this:
"autism in boys has a bigger impact on the people around them. Autism in girls tends to damage the girl more than anyone else."
I have seen loads of autistic kids and they all vary. Some of the boys are very quiet and insular, some of the girls (including DD) is very challenging for others, including aggressive behaviour.

I think the extreme male brain theory has done a lot of damage to both boys and girls. It leads to diagnosis by crude stereotypes.