02/15/2026
The diagnostic criteria for autism are mostly based on research on boys diagnosed with autism rather than females. Because of that, many girls are not diagnosed with ASD (or Asperger’s Syndrome) until they are teens.
In many cases, girls with autism at a younger age show more capacity, compared to boys, to interact in social settings. On top of that, they can often make and maintain friendships at a young age. However, if undiagnosed, autism symptoms in women become more evident as they reach adolescence, highlighting the diverse nature of the autism spectrum.
Although autism is more difficult to spot in girls than boys, there are some signs you can look out for:
Social skills and communication challenges
Girls with autism may struggle with maintaining eye contact, processing social events through daydreaming, and may show difficulty in forming intimate social interactions. They may also exhibit lower verbal cognitive ability, literal understanding of information, and communication difficulties.
Sensory processing issues
Sensory challenges, such as difficulties with intense lighting, sound, or touch, are common in autism. Women with autism may engage in self-regulation through stimming, meltdowns, or self-injurious behaviors in response to sensory inputs.
Behavioral challenges
Girls with autism can sometimes act out or show aggressive behaviors. This can occur when they are trying to communicate something or when there’s a sensory problem that they’re trying to regulate. Alternatively, it can be due to a physiological or health-related problem.
Visual thinking
Female autism may represent itself in visual thinking. Visual thinking allows some with autism to conceptualize patterns and solve complex problems.
One of the most famous women with autism, Temple Grandin, Ph.D., was nonverbal for the first three and a half years of her life. She developed her social skills and attained a doctoral degree in animal science, where she began to pioneer revolutionary concepts due to her ability to think in pictures.
Special interests and obsessions
Autistic women often develop special interests and obsessions. While girls may have more socially acceptable interests, such as celebrities, these passions can still indicate autism and may be overlooked in diagnosis.
Why Autism in Women Goes Undiagnosed
Girls are often underdiagnosed with autism because current diagnostic criteria are more aligned with how autism is expressed in boys. Research indicates that for every one female diagnosed with autism, at least three males receive a diagnosis.
Some argue that girls may have traits that protect them from developing autism, while others believe that more girls might have autism but go undiagnosed due to biases in current diagnostic criteria. (Autism Parenting Magazine ❤️)
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