Characteristics of Females with Aspergers and High-Functioning Autism

"We think our daughter may have a form of autism due to her severe shyness, excessive need to have things just so, certain rituals she has with food, major touch sensitivity, a lot of anxiety, just to name a few. What are some of the signs to look for to help us decide if an assessment is in order?"
 
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Comments

Jannie said…
Sounds like my son!
November 12, 2012 at 8:07 AM
Unknown said…
This is my daughter, although after a couple hours with developmental pediatrics at MUSC, they would not give her a diagnosis. Proving to me that it is very hard to diagnose in girls, especially after years of them copying "normal" behavior.
November 12, 2012 at 4:17 PM
Anonymous said…
Yes, many of these traits sound just like me...
November 12, 2012 at 4:21 PM
Unknown said…
My 4 year old daughter also went to an assessment recently and I was told that she has the characteristics of Aspergers but that (in the two hours they worked with her one on one) she did not show them the severity in which they would be comfortable giving her a diagnosis. She happens to be at her best in highly structured activities with adults (which I told them). So frustrating!
December 3, 2012 at 1:46 PM
saraleh82 said…
Sounds like my son and my mom.
June 1, 2015 at 5:18 AM
Uhhhhhh99 said…
Everything here, except for maybe three or four things list, I have been described as by both parents, and both their peers and mine.
August 6, 2015 at 7:32 AM
elanaoali said…
Hi all I am looking at the list above for my daughter sake as she could possibility have high function autism or just have social anxiety disorder. Why does the list sound like me? I was told that we are all on the austic spectrum. That was my daughter's physcharist treating her for her anxiety disorder.

IF this is me then I being to understand myself even better. At the moment we are waiting to see if my daughter's psychiatrist is going to assess her for autism. This would have to be with the agreement of my daughter.
So I waiting to see what happens with her. Then perhaps I will do something about me. There are lots of pluses to austism and not just all negative. Understanding yourself is part of the journey to helping yourself.
October 11, 2016 at 3:18 AM
S.Fitzwilliam said…
You should add repeats last conversation in head or out loud to work out what they should have said instead. :)
December 7, 2016 at 3:46 PM
Unknown said…
The weird thing is i am male with autism spectrum conditions but think i fit into the female stereo type.
January 27, 2017 at 3:30 PM
Unknown said…
I have autism and i am male but fit very well with the female symp
January 27, 2017 at 3:31 PM
CyndiL PhillyGirl said…
I have a lot of the characteristics outlined here but I also don't have a few. What you need to know about your AS or ASD daughter is this...we want to be accepted by our parents. My mom had no clue about what was wrong with me and I didn't get diagnosed until I was grown. I couldn't believe that I wasn't diagnosed earlier. Parents...please...if your child is stand-off-ish...look into it! My friends when I was 8 years old were older ladies and older nuns! I always wanted to be around older ladies because they understood me and interacted with me appropriately. I mimicked the children I had to interact with so that I could be more like them but I got tired of trying to be like them and secluded myself away from them constantly but I found out that I had to deal with them in order to survive in the inner city...I just wanted to hang out with the grown ups but they pushed me toward the kids who were usually older. Whatever...life sucked for my young ass...I did what I could and survived but not without being bullied.
April 16, 2017 at 8:22 PM
Kallya of Random Death said…
Seems to me that are missing some key feature to both sexs. Like wondering, all my life I know I will suddenly care off course or stop to look at something without much thought to those i am with Or around me. And eye contact, I can mimic it but it is a big challenge and most other autistic females I know also have the issue. So a girl looking down or away would be a possible sign. I don't get why they work so hard on very general signs and ignore far more common and actually easier to detect.
April 17, 2017 at 10:31 AM
Renaissanista said…
I'm angry to hear that so many foolish doctors don't understand the importance of diagnosing this. A friend told me I shouldn't label myself, when I told them that I have all the classic signs of adult female high functioning Aspergers. They think they are doing kids a favor by not "labeling" them.
Tony Attwood didn't see his son's Aspergers until he was 30 and a drug addict from years of suffering in silence. At 45, with severe PTSD, Major Depressive disordering, having been bullied, suffering an eating disorder, social phobias and 2 suicide attempts. I now know I am on the Aspergers/Autism spectrum. Though, I have no idea how to get formerly diagnosed. Fight for your children.Get them diagnosed. It's a nightmare living a life where you don't fit in and not being able to explain why to others. I just want to be able to say this is why I feel pain you don't feel and have people get it right away. That's not labeling. That's helpful.
March 29, 2021 at 11:07 AM
Luckie77 said…
Me to a Tee! I have many of the traits. Newly diagnosed and learning so much.
September 3, 2021 at 4:54 AM
Anonymous said…
Feel so much that this is me. Almost 50yrs old and have always felt different. I have no idea whether it's worth trying to get a diagnosis, but a lot of this makes sense to me.
May 28, 2022 at 1:49 AM
Anonymous said…
Totally agree
July 13, 2022 at 7:29 PM
cansu said…
She may have an interest in ancient civilizations to find an old world in which she would feel at home.

My interest in ancient Egyptian civilization seems to be an example of this one!
December 14, 2022 at 1:17 AM
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