Melanie Sykes has been diagnosed as autistic aged 51, but why are so many women remaining undiagnosed for years – if not a lifetime?
The TV presenter found out her son Valentino was on the autism spectrum when he was three years old.
Now, he’s 17 and she’s in her 50s – and she’s only just learned she, too, has the condition.
Around one in 60 men are diagnosed as autistic, but for women it’s one in 180 – raising the question of why this gender gap has emerged.
How are male and females with autism different?
Aberdeen Human Givens psychotherapist Jennifer Broadley says even the way we approach the topic comes from a skewed perspective.
“The diagnostic criteria we still use for autism comes from the results of studies using only males,” she said.
Additionally, autistic women and girls generally thrive more than their male counterparts in social situations.
Ms Broadley said: “In most cultures girls are generally still socialised to cooperate, while boys are socialised to compete.
“Most girls therefore develop a wider range of social skills at a faster pace to boys and so they are able to mask what they think and feel, and therefore their behaviours to better fit into groups.
“This means that at schools or in families, autistic traits are not picked up as easily as with boys, so diagnosis happens later in life for women – if at all.”
One of the first signs of autism in children is restricted interests and repetitive behaviour.
But girls are less likely to show this as they’re better at copying their neuro-typical friends to fit in.
Ms Broadley added: “However, although girls show fewer severe restricted interests and repetitive behaviours than boys, and so are less likely to be diagnosed, by contrast, girls and boys do not differ in their level of social difficulties.
“And so adult women are less likely to have received help or support and often go undiagnosed much longer – into their 30s, 40s and 50s.
What are the signs of autism?
Melanie Sykes admitted she “wished she’d known sooner” about her diagnosis.
She said when someone tells her something with a “deadpan delivery” she believes them because she can’t recognise it as a joke from their tone of voice.
Others can face challenges predicting people’s behaviour, or understanding how their own actions can affect others.And some find it hard to understand turns of phrase, taking the likes of “raining cats and dogs” literally, or social language, like “how are you” as a greeting and not just a direct question.
Is autism genetic?
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can run in families, though not everyone with ASD has a relative with the diagnosis.
It’s estimated that a child with an autistic parent is nine times more likely to have the condition themselves.
Actor and comedian Paddy McGuinness and his wife Christine have three children, all of whom are autistic.
Since then, Christine found out she is also autistic, in a similar situation to Melanie Sykes’.
Autism will ‘push the human race forward’
Broadley says autism is “not a mistake”, however, and is instead “100% purposeful”.
“The autism spectrum population – about 1% of the planet, or 75 million people – are most likely to be the ones who push the human race forward in all areas of innovation.
“No two people with AS experience it identically, and yet they share common difficulties.
“Autism is a spectrum which all humans are on.
“It’s only when we reach a certain number of autistic traits that we would receive a diagnosis.”
And Morag Ormiston, who is also a north-east psychotherapist, said it is important this is considered, and everyone is treated individually.
She said: “As girls are often socialised differently to boys, this may just account for the different diagnosis, among many other factors.
“As a psychotherapist, we support the individuals we have in front of us, regardless of gender, and regularly work around specific diagnoses as they can be inaccurate or sometimes unhelpful labels for our clients.
“Like some other difficulties, what matters is that each individual or family can feel confident enough to ask for support.”
Read more:
- I was bullied for years and made to feel like a failure – now I’m proud to be autistic
- ‘I’m like everybody else – just slightly different’: North-east dad on awareness mission after being diagnosed with autism aged 42
- Meet the Governess: Chase star joins Elgin schoolboy for special autism lockdown podcast