Unmasking the Stigma Behind Autism in Females | Emmy Peach | TEDxUGA

[Music] when i was eight years old my younger brother who is five at the time was diagnosed with autism after he was diagnosed my family received counseling to understand autism and how to best treat my brother going forward one of the biggest things that i took away from those sessions was the counselor telling my sister and i not to worry about having autism because only boys have it all my life my definition of autism was a little boy who had an obsession with trains who walked on his tippy toes and who was extremely smart to me that's all that autism was i'd later learn that while this does describe my brother's experience with the disorder it does not define the wide range of the spectrum of autism by definition autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that involves challenges with social communication restricted interests and repetitive behavior this is a textbook definition but autism is much more than that according to the cdc about one percent of the world's population has autism spectrum disorder that's over 75 million people while this may be a large number it's important to remember that autism features a wide range of traits and levels of severity after my brother was diagnosed my mom researched about autism online to understand it better than my brother a majority of what she could find was related specifically to boys on the spectrum but one of the most influential resources that she that she discovered was a list of unofficial autism traits and females created by samantha craft a writer and a blogger who has autism this list details overlooked symptoms specifically in girls with autism my mom realized that she identified with many of these traits and this was the missing piece that led her to advocate for her own autism diagnosis at the age of 52. after she was clinically diagnosed my mom told me about her autism i began to wonder how could she have gone so long without realizing this about herself she then explained to me and my sister the list of unofficial autistic traits in girls i was 19 years old and i had never considered that i might have autism but while hearing her read this list i realized that i identified with many of these traits i'm naive i escape routinely through imagination and daydreaming i rub my hands together when i'm happy i have a tendency to over share i raise my hand too much in class i have a remarkable memory for certain details i'm highly empathetic and i train myself in social interactions by studying other people i went to psychologist and she clinically diagnosed me with not only autism spectrum disorder but also attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or adhd at first i felt a wave of relief consumed me because i now understood why i thought and interacted the way i did it was an amazing feeling i had a new understanding of my brain i could put a name to the reason why i had difficulties with certain aspects of my life unfortunately after the relief then came the grief why is it so much harder for me to communicate my emotions to other people why does my brain find social interactions so challenging why do i get overwhelmed to do something small like my laundry the grief stemmed from the fact that most people have a natural ease with things that i find exceptionally difficult you may be wondering why is it that my brother was diagnosed when he was five whereas my mom and i were diagnosed at a much later age how can a disorder as common as autism go so undiagnosed and so unnoticed within women well a part of the answer is that many girls who have autism observe the way others around them behave realize that they are different than change the way they act in order to fit in out of fear of being ostracized girls feel as though they must conceal or mask their autistic tendencies and because we mask this makes it harder for researchers and psychologists to spot and diagnose autism in girls masking is defined as hiding our autistic traits and artificially performing socially acceptable behavior in order to fit in an observation by michelle dean and her colleagues sought to understand masking or behavioral camouflaging and high functioning autistic kids they observed a group of autistic boys playing a playground with a group of neurotypical boys or boys without autism while the neurotypical boys played a game together the autistic boys played alone when observing the same situation with girls they noticed that the girls the autistic girls didn't play alone rather they joined in with the neurotypical girls however instead of engaging in the game with them they stayed physically close to them without truly socializing and being a part of the game thus giving the appearance that they were participating without truly doing so this is a visual representation of what masking is as autistic girls grow up we mirror those around us because we realize that our way of doing things may give a sign that we're different masking can help us make friends and have a social life but there are costs to it according to multiple scientific studies masking can cause anxiety isolation and burnout because of the constant feeling that we're alone and we're pretending to be someone that we're not masking is one of the reasons why girls with autism are often hiding in plain sight research has shown that there's a female autism phenotype a specific way that autism is expressed in girls that does not fit the traditional autistic diagnostic criteria since females present autism differently this makes their autism less detectable compared to autism in males this leads to being diagnosed much later than their male counterparts for decades it was assumed that boys had autism more prevalent than girls in 1995 a danish study stated that there was a ratio of 8 to 1 for boys to girls with autism 27 years later we see that there is now a ratio of 3 to 1. this is not because less boys are being diagnosed but rather because there's a larger clinical awareness for the gender differences of autism and an increased awareness for the disorder in general regardless of the increased awareness the stigma around autism persists in our society and often prevents individuals from seeking an autism diagnosis in a study it was found the neurotypical participants rated videos of individuals with autism as less likeable and they stated that they would be less likely to engage with them socially this suggests that acceptance as an autistic person may be poor because of this stigma many who have autism keep their diagnosis behind a wall to shield themselves from judgment from peers because they find embarrassment in telling others about their autism some who identify with autistic traits don't seek a diagnosis because of negative negative stigma instead of letting the stigma reign over how we perceive ourselves and autism we can choose to see the positives and we can learn to celebrate our diagnosis after i was diagnosed i felt as though i truly understood myself it gave me relief clarity and the ability to learn more about myself and my brain i finally began to embrace my differences and i'm happy to be autistic growing research on autism and girls means it's becoming more understood as we learn more about the broad spectrum of autism and how it presents more women and girls are seeking diagnoses and discovering that they too may be autistic when girls are able to accept their diagnosis more research can be conducted about the different ways that autism is expressed it's a cycle that can help break down the stigma there is beauty in the spectrum i encourage those of you with autism to unmask and be your genuine self whether you are neurotypical or neurodivergent embracing our differences allows us to better understand ourselves and each other i urge all of you to remember that there is value in our differences and acknowledging them allows for more authentic relationships no matter our age no matter male or female we deserve authentic relationships with people who see us for who we truly are thank you [Applause]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 95,329

Keywords: Disability, Empowerment, English, Health, Impact, Life, Social Change, TEDxTalks, Women, [TEDxEID:47122]

Id: 7KPK5sMar5w

Length: 10min 53sec (653 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 13 2022