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Investigating the overlaps in autism and personality disorder diagnoses in women

Dr Kirsten Barnicot, Division of Health Services Research and Management, and collaborators at the University of Oxford and University College London have been awarded £80,000 by the mental health research fund, Words that Carry On (WTCO).

The funding will support a new project which will examine why autism can be missed or misdiagnosed in women. People with a female gender identity and people assigned female gender at birth, but identifying differently, will be included in the research. The aim of the project is to deliver practical guidance for clinicians and mental health service-users to help minimise the stress and trauma that can accompany inaccurate diagnoses.

https://www.city.ac.uk/news/2020/november/investigating-overlaps-autism-personality-disorder-diagnoses-women

Comments

  • Will be interesting to see the results.

    I know the most commonly posited theory is we women autists can generally mimic social skills better than men, and/or have more socially acceptable and less technical/narrow interests. I believe we are also less prone to the hyperactive form of ADHD. A quiet, studious bookworm -- no matter how socially clueless she is -- isn't going to be noticed as much as the boy swinging from chandeliers and being preoccupied with train schedules.

  • That's brilliant @firemonkey. Thank you for posting this very relevant article. 😢

    I was very fortunate that my first and only Autism assessment was accurate, and I was treated respectfully by the doctor without any misconception or bias. Unfortunately, the journey to getting my assessment took at least 20 years of therapy from other doctors. They correctly identified my co-morbid conditions, but missed Autism altogether. It was never mentioned, even though there is anecdotal evidence as far back as my school reports when I was five years old.

    Thanks to the work of brilliant autistic women themselves (my hat's off to Sarah Hendrickx in particular), awareness and acceptance of women with autism has grown considerably.

  • AmityAmity Administrator, Citizen

    It is good to see something like this come from the early loss of life (https://wordsthatcarryon.org/about-lindsay/) of a likely un-diagnosed woman, her loved ones are doing something that will meaningfully touch the lives of many other women and likely in a life saving way.

  • I was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia and barely escaped being swept into psychiatric mistreatment for life.

  • AmityAmity Administrator, Citizen

    I shudder when I think of you in that situation Magpie.

    Its too common for it to be misdiagnosed in women, Im not even sure that the GPs in my medical center believe me, but I did get one of them to finally note it on my file and since then each doctor looks at me in a bemused way when I visit and they reach that page.

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