A friend sent me this and it made me go HOLY SHIT, IT’S ME!
The often-misdiagnosed adult female autistic phenotype (those assigned female at birth) may appear as the following traits:
• Highly sensitive, intelligent, anxious, easily overwhelmed by environment and socializing
• Good at giving the appearance of social success but struggles to understand and maintain it
• Repetitive movement/behavior that can be well hidden, as “masking” helps them fit in
• Preference for fixed routines and rituals
• Intense special interests that can change over time, extensive knowledge of
certain subjects, often used to escape from stress
• Disorganized or poor eye contact, which can also be “masked” when trying to fit in
• Trouble interpreting nonverbal communication
• Can have a history of changing jobs, majors in school, changing friend groups, moving
• Often perceived by others as a “Luna Lovegood” type: quirky, odd and unique
• Sensory processing difficulties can appear as both:
hypersensitivity to light, noise and other senses
hyposensitivity and sensation-seeking
• Poor proprioception, clumsiness, accident prone
• Stimming (self-stimulating repetitive behavior) can appear as fidgeting, leg bouncing, head scratching, massaging self, swaying when standing, humming, cracking knuckles, biting lip, tensing muscles and more
• Sensitive to certain fabrics, may have preference for comfortable rather than fashionable clothing
• Need to be in control of environment: adjust lighting, volume, etc.
• Hypersensitivity to medications, caffeine, drugs/alcohol
• Hypersensitive to certain foods/prone to food intolerances, may be a picky eater and have GI issues
• Often seen as shy and introverted in an uncomfortable setting but can be bossy with a need for order and control in a comfortable setting
• Can be too honest, socially immature, unaware of social rules, have difficulty reading others or seeing their perspective
• May adopt alternative personas, a chameleon who changes personalities according to social setting
• May identify someone who is popular as “socially successful” and try to mimic their behavior, clothing, body language, interests, etc.
• Difficulties with conflict resolution: will people-please as a way to avoid conflict and prone to “burning b ridges” as a way to escape conflict
• Intense relationships or friendships, romantic partner often becomes the “special
interest,” they may require daily verbal reassurance of their partner’s feelings for them
• May prefer friends younger or older to peers their own age, taking on roles as the “teacher” with younger friends or “student” with older friends
• Preference for one-on-one social interactions, may prefer friendships with males as they are easier to understand that female friendship dynamics
• May prefer online socializing to in-person and prefer texting to other forms of communication
• Physical and emotional exhaustion from socializing, usually needing to isolate
themselves and recharge after socializing
• May have chronic low self-esteem from feeling different and less successful at life
• Emotional melt-downs/shutting down can occur in response to feeling overwhelmed
• Lacks ability to describe emotions, manage emotions, and read emotions of other people
• Self-medicating with drugs or alcohol and/or self-harm can result from inability to cope with feelings
• Difficulty regulating emotions and trouble in relationships can be misinterpreted and are often misdiagnosed as Borderline Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder & more
• Highly intelligent and analytical
• Black or white (all or nothing) thinking
• Ability to focus intently but can be easily distracted in overwhelming environment
• Autodidactic, has many self-taught skills
• Perfectionistic, great attention to detail but can fail to see bigger picture
• Challenges with executive function, planning, time management, following through with plans
• Difficulty comprehending certain types of humor like sarcasm, may prefer more
obvious, nonsensical humor to other types
• Lack understanding of own identity and how they’re perceived by others
Common comorbidities with ASD
· Food intolerances or allergy (11%)
· Respiratory allergies (19%)
· Sensory processing disorder (40-80%)
· Sleep disturbances (50-80%)
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