While extensive research exists on autism in males, there remains a significant gap in understanding the experiences of women across all age demographics. One of the crucial points to note is the strikingly different expression of autism across demographics. It’s imperative for clinicians and clients alike to grasp these differences thoroughly.
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What is ‘masking’ or ‘camouflaging’ ?
A concept that’s gaining recognition in the autism community is masking or camouflaging. This is the conscious or unconscious suppression of certain behaviors to minimize the appearance of autistic traits, particularly in social settings. It can be thought of as a survival tool to make it through the day or to blend into an otherwise uncomfortable situation. Masking involves suppressing stimming behavior, intense interests, mimicking non-verbal behaviors, and even developing scripts to navigate social interactions.
Over time, individuals may become aware of their masking behavior, but it often comes at a cost. Masking can lead to burnout at a rapid pace and is often associated with sleep issues, bodily tension, heightened levels of anxiety and depression, and even potentially contributing to suicidal tendencies. Many people also mention that there comes a point when they no longer can tell the difference between their true thoughts/feelings and their masked thoughts/feelings.
Challenges in Diagnosis
One of the primary challenges in diagnosing autism in women is that they may express their traits in subtler ways compared to males. This is often due to society’s expectations for how different genders are ‘expected’ to behave – these expectations start as early as birth. Expectations can include but are not limited to: how we judge a person based on the number of friends they have or their friend group, how we think about someone’s intelligence or ability based on their participation in class or completion of assignments, how we make sense of a person’s feelings/thoughts based on their non-verbal body language (face expressions, posture, movements), and how we compare experiences to people we know or ourselves. These differences in expression aren’t adequately addressed in diagnostic tools or criteria, leading to underdiagnosis in this demographic.
Autistic women typically seem to exhibit fewer social impairments to outsiders, though this does not always match how a person feels internally. Many women also share that they get labeled as ‘shy’, ‘reserved’, ‘quirky’ or ‘a people pleaser’ from childhood. This can lead many families to not explore autism as a diagnosis due to misidentifying or misunderstanding the person’s needs.
Relucent Paving the Way in Testing Services
At Relucent Psychology Group, all testing services are administered by Dr. Bridget Wieckowski. Dr.Wieckowski has been conducting assessments since 2016 and has been an integral part of the Relucent Family since 2020. For Autism assessments specifically, Dr. Wieckowski has conducted a considerable number of evaluations for individuals identifying as female, providing her with ample experience in this area. In addition, she employs measures designed to detect masking and camouflaging behaviors with precision. If you or someone you know is curious about testing services, visit our autism testing page for more in depth information or feel free to contact us directly.
