Why is it harder for females to get diagnosed with autism?
Is it, though? What exactly do you mean? What source(s) are you using?
For as long as most kiwis remember, autism has overwhelmingly been a trendy diagnosis for "problem children". Boys cause problems more often (biology? socialization?) so they get slapped with it more.
There's now a push to sell "autism" to females. "Autism" in females is an attention-whoring neotenic social contagion, girls and women want in on the sweet sweet validation. Just look at
this bitch, a 34-year-old (WHAT? fuck, she looks ancient) "model and TV star": she munched-by-proxy her three fatherless preteen children, then got jealous of them. Naughty kids, don't hog all the tism to yourselves, gotta share with Mommy!
So when sources say it's harder for a girl to get a diagnosis, do they compare the rate in problem boys to the rate in trendy girls? Then it's no wonder that girls presented for diagnosis get diagnosed less frequently. Do they account for the fact that it's more socially acceptable for a woman than a man to be crazy, and therefore parents may be less willing to condemn a boy (leaving it as an option to get out of worse punishment) but easily pathologize a girl because lmao those pmsing bitches amirite.
They say girls "mask" -- as in, we can't point at autism in the brain (or wherever), and girls behave differently from boys, they don't have behavioral problems, they don't have restricted interests, they're sociable and have friends, and are as good as normal boys on the sociability metrics (but lower than the average girl).
So they're normal. If the (normal) boys don't need tard minders, neither do these girls. But munchie parents demand a diagnosis, and a diagnosis they shall have.
Reminds me of the time when I was saddled with compiling dossiers for my class of hopeful legal draft-dodgers, and every single one of them had to be "an informal leader". We knew full well who were the dependents and isolateds, but we weren't going to stand between a boy and his mil id.
MASKING AUTISM
Jennifer O'Toole, an author and founder of the Asperkids Web site and company, was not diagnosed until after her husband, daughter and sons were found to be on the spectrum. On the outside, she looked pretty much the opposite of autistic. At Brown University, she was a cheerleader and sorority girl whose boyfriend was the president of his fraternity.
But
low-functioning girls
behave a lot like low-functioning boys (small differences; boys are more active, girls are more self-injurious).
And, anecdotally, there's Maddie, a
high-functioning autist who's a lot like Chris. She says she'd been diagnosed by the time she was 8 and has been cured.
What problems do women with it face that guys (usually) don't?
People think I'm a poser, no one takes my love of trains seriously.
Did you actually mind having the tism or is it just 'what it is'?
It's not "what it is", it's "what I am". I like trains, flowers (they're delicious), math, street furniture, cups, ushanka hats, fountain pens, towers,
zefir, old hunting maps, and the color purple. There's no me without my likes and dislikes, it's not like OCDs' intrusive thoughts or skitzos' fits.
What's your take on "self diagnosed autists"?
(I am internet-diagnosed but not self-diagnosed.)
It's all bug chasing. Wanting to be mentally deficient or otherwise "vulnerable" is emblematic of a rotten society. I have a tiny speckle of respect for the self-diagnosed over those who had
themselves professionally diagnosed, because the former (1) aren't a drain on healthcare, and (2) leave a way out for themselves. Sure, pretending to be defective on the online is a dumb pastime, but so is laughing at amholes. Now getting permanently stamped "defective"
IRL in exchange for asspats and legal meth -- I despise these people, and I despise the fact that the stamp has no effect. Fewer responsibilities should mean fewer rights.
I dislike self-diagnosed autists less than fakecels, because fakecels reflect badly on me (Master Key Theory compels me to pipe up every once in a while, which is how I signed up here) and self-diagnosed autists do not.
Do you feel bad for any of the cows with autism or do you just feel schadenfreude?
I don't feel anything for the cows because I don't consider them (the severe autists, like Chris or Maddie or the gay waifuist or that Leaf guy) moral agents. They can be punished by human standards because it's practical and fair -- I wouldn't mind if Chris went to prison -- but they can't be
judged by human standards.
I feel bad (or schadenfreude*, if they're enablers imposing on everyone else who finally face consequences) for the parents, particularly mothers.
* No, Barb didn't deserve the rape. But if that dried actress (whatshername, googling "old actress with troon child" doesn't help) gets challenor'd by her troon son, she'll have gotten off easy.
