So I recently got diagnosed with autism, and my therapist was talking about how it was most likely missed because of how different the disorder can show itself in boys vs girls.
So, why?
It looks like it’s the same over different populations, so I don’t think it’s anything to do with culture or anything like that. So is it something biological? Maybe it interacts with chromosomes or something?
I keep seeing things that tell me that it’s different, but nothing about why.
In: Biology
Well, the main reason you aren’t finding any information on why is because we don’t know why. Autism, despite having been around and named for decades now, is still a mystery when it comes to the mechanics. Research and awareness is desperately needed.
The other commenter – /u/icedragon9791 – is incorrect. There are a number of [studies](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8328919/) that associate autism with [hypermasculinity](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7026150/), based on a number of factors including facial morphology and brain scans. The variation in hormonal and neurological milieu may explain its different presentations in men and women.
A separate issue is that its presentation in women has historically been recognised less in diagnosis, due to the majority of studies being performed in men.
It doesn’t. The male female brain thing is a myth. The reason they diagnose less frequently in female presenting people.is because those people are generally taught to mask any symptoms by societal misogyny. Also, many many doctors and psychs have internalized misogyny and are willing to dismiss ND behaviors in female presenting patients as the result of “hormones” and other things that “irrational crazy women” do because they’re women.
So you stated the whole chromosome thing : Autism is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, while Down syndrome is caused by an extra chromosome 21.
I was a school speech therapist for over 30 years and worked with the full gamut of handicapping conditions, including mild to severe autism. I have never heard of distinctions being made on the basis of gender. I am not sure what exactly the therapist means by “presented differently“.
A big part of it is socialization and gendered framing of the same traits. If a boy is fidgety and inattentive, it’s just “boys will be boys.” If a girl is fidgety and inattentive, she’s more likely to be punished for that behavior. Boys who are quiet and withdrawn are pathologized; girls who are quiet and withdrawn are “just shy.”
Humans have a cocktail of hormone soup inside them. There are over 50 different hormones each with different functions
The cocktail of hormone soup will vary a lot between each person because of their lifestyle, health issues, genetics, and the sex chromosomes we have
A person with XX chromosomes will usually have a hormone soup that heavily features “female” hormones likes oestrogen and progesterone. A person with XY will usually have a “male” hormone soup that heavily features testosterone. (I say usually because there are exceptions. Every human has all the sex hormones, but the ratio varies based on a few factors not just chromosomes
These sex based hormones have a big influence on the way our brains and bodies develop. They create physical differences in our brains. These differences could have a role in why autistic people of different sexes display different traits
Then there is the added later of gender. Girls are almost always raised to comply to certain norms and are punished/rewarded for certain behaviours. Boys are almost always raised to comply to other norms and are punished/rewarded for certain behaviours
Combine all these factors together and differences may appear
I could also go into the history of autism research and such but that’s a story for another day
It’s not necessarily autism as a whole umbrella, but what type of disability they have. Downs syndrome can affect both genders the same, while fragile x tends to affect males more severely.
for people who are higher functioning it might be harder to notice due to socialization, that i agree
but there are a LOT of autistic people who are unmistakably autistic. like they don’t hold eye contact, they get angry towards other people’s neutral emotions, their affect is flat and so on. and you can tell that they’re autistic, whether or not they’re a boy or girl.
that’s not even mentioning those that are just straight up non verbal
Because boys and girls are biologically different.
It’s very likely that girls are by default a lot more sociable than boys.
Even men who are not autistic can really struggle socially or be partial mutes etc.
An autistic woman supposedly still has more social instinct than most men.
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