Many girls who suffer from autism remain undiagnosed because females are better at masking the symptoms of the disorder. The disparity among diagnosing males and females with autism have also contributed to the under-diagnosis of many girls.
Autism spectrum disorder is defined as behavioral difficulties associated with a wide spectrum of problems. The spectrum of problems can be extreme such as severe learning difficulties, or on the other extreme such as extraordinary abilities in music.
Autism was initially thought of as a male disorder since the disease predominantly affected boys instead of girls. For every girl diagnosed with autism, a disparity of four boys were being diagnosed.
However, experts reveal that many females suffer from autism spectrum disorder with the apparent symptoms going unnoticed. There is a failure to recognize autism in girls and women due to their position on the less impaired end of the spectrum, Daily Mail reported. Girls generally display less obvious behavioral symptoms compared to boys.
Many researchers and psychologists believe that the symptoms of girls with autism are milder and may be easily explained as typical of girls' behavior. In addition, young girls are more inclined to develop social and conversational skills, masking the most common indicators of autism, according to ABC News.
One possible explanation is that the female biological genetic make-up has two X chromosomes reducing the impact of genetic factors. This can also explain why girls who do not get diagnosed are at the more impaired spectrum end.
Another possible explanation is that girls are better at hiding certain behaviors as they are more social sensitive and well-behaved. Girls are more inclined to imitate behavior that is expected of them. In addition, female autism is also less understood in girls because most research studies do not have equal amount of information for boys and girls.
Unfortunately, the current understanding of autism is missing diagnoses for many girls. Experts need to do a better job at trying to identify females with autism to explore the differences between male and female, according to Christine Wu Nordahl, assistant professor in the UC David Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
