By Matt Villano, CNN
“Researchers historically have viewed autism as a distinctly “male” neurotype.
But why? Is it because they only paid attention to symptoms in boys, and girls haven’t been screened properly? Boys are 10 times more likely than girls to be referred for autism assessments, a 2020 review showed, and a 2023 study suggests that up to 80% of girls and women may receive a diagnosis of social anxiety, eating disorder or borderline personality disorder before being accurately diagnosed as autistic.
These biases and shortcomings are the subject of “Off the Spectrum: Why the Science of Autism Has Failed Women and Girls,” a new book by brain imaging expert Gina Rippon.
Rippon, professor emeritus of cognitive neuroimaging at the Aston Brain Centre in Birmingham, England, investigates how and why scientists and clinicians have systematically underestimated and overlooked autism in women and girls.”
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/02/health/autism-in-girls-wellness/index.html