Women 'better than men at disguising autism symptoms'

Women may not be diagnosed with autism as frequently as men because they are better at hiding the common signs of the condition, according to new research.

Some autistic people use strategies to hide traits associated with the condition during social interactions, a phenomenon called social camouflaging. Scientists involved in the study say raising awareness of camouflaging among doctors could help reduce the number of missed autism diagnoses.

Scientists studied the results of an online survey designed to measure gender differences in camouflaging in autistic and non-autistic adults. They found autistic women exhibited more camouflaging behaviours than men, which supported previous observations from self-reported studies. No gender camouflaging differences were reported in non-autistic groups.

“The effect wasn’t as big as we were expecting,” said one of the authors of the study.

“What I’m finding interesting is how ubiquitous camouflaging is. When you start to dig into why, it’s quite alarming; for starters it’s experienced as an obligation rather than a choice. It’s very often about self-preservation, avoiding bullying or attack.”

Common camouflaging behaviours include learning how to make eye contact, or suppressing urges to move in physical ways which some autistic people would find comforting, called stimming, for example rocking of the body or flapping of hands.

Data from non-binary people and other genders was also studied and no behavioural differences were found, although the sample sizes of these groups were small.

“In its most complex form, [social camouflaging] involves the adoption of a persona. In women particularly, this might involve observing other women or girls who appear to be popular, and copying their gestures or clothing,” said the Dr.

“Anyone who is alert to autism won’t be surprised by these findings,” said a researcher on autism in women . “We find that for a lot of females, their autistic traits are not being picked up or recognised in the same way that males have been at school. This is because we’re trying to fit their diagnosis through the same moulds as males, but often they don’t fit that criteria because their presentation is slightly different.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of [autistic] women who say they presented to their GP, but because they used these social camouflaging strategies like using eye contact and communicating well, they have missed an autism diagnosis.

“[Social camouflaging] is not a common diagnostic criterion at the moment, but if it was then I think more females would be diagnosed. We need to be doing better as a society in picking this up, and shifting our perspectives of what autism is.”

An author on the study, hopes the work will lead to positive change. “If we can get awareness of social camouflaging into the NHS or Nice guidelines, and get it known how common it is in both men and women, that would be so important.”

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations 
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement      

People With Autism Explain What Stimming Feels Like

Stimming, or self-stimulatory behaviors, are behaviours people with autism may exhibit to counteract an overwhelming sensory environment or alleviate the high levels of internal anxiety, according to researchers. Some examples of stimming are rocking, spinning, pacing, repeating words or flapping of arms or hands.

Autistic people aren’t the only ones who stim, although occasionally people on the spectrum stim in more obvious ways and may attract attention. Many people have a hard time grasping why someone would stim.

Researchers asked readers with autism how they explain what stimming is like.

This is what they had to say: 
1. “It helps my body regulate the sensory information of the world.” —said one of them.

2. “You know how when you’re cooking something on a stove, you sometimes move the lid slightly off the pot to let the steam out? How you put pressure on a bleeding wound to get the blood flow to stop, or at least lessen? For me, stimming is that relief and release — the preventing of inward things from exploding or running out by doing things outwardly to soothe the inward.” — said another.

3. “Stimming is like turning down the radio when you think you smell something burning. It’s a way of turning off the other senses so you can make sure nothings burning.” — according to the 3rd person.

4. “Sometimes when I feel overwhelmed, upset or angry, I need to let it out. I feel antsy when I’m overstimulated, so I need to move around and let out some noise. It’s the only way I know how to cope. It calms me down. A common one for me is humming loudly to myself (sometimes with my ears plugged or covered) and most commonly, I’ll bounce my leg. It’s involuntary, so I don’t always realize I’m bouncing my leg. It bothers some people, but I can’t help it.”– said the 4th person.

5. “What’s it like to stim? You tell me. Most non-autistic people impulsively tap their feet, drum their fingers or let out exasperated sighs. They’re all natural forms of self-expression. The theory behind autistic stimming is the same — we’re just the ones who get called out for expressing ourselves more visibly than you!” — said the 5th person.

6. “Sometimes the sensory input gets too much, and I feel like I might explode. Stimming releases the tension and makes me feel a lot calmer.” —according the 6th person

7. “It’s the ability and opportunity to shut out external effects. I can tune into myself, reign in my energy and feel completely wrapped and enveloped in my own bubble of comfort and total relaxation. It helps ground me to reality, breathe, slow down and soothes my nervous system that is overtaxed. At best, I feel like there is no one else around and I am completely calm, free and one with the world.” —said another person.

8. “It’s a comforting thing to do. Neuro-typical people probably understand and do similar things, but the difference is that autism stims feel more necessary, and trying to stop them causes unpleasantness for us. It makes me feel uncomfortable when [it] cannot be done.” — according to another person.

9. “It’s a combination of habit and releasing build-up of stress or internal energy in the body. It isn’t something you do only when you have anxiety or negative feelings, it feels good. It’s kind of necessary.”---said yet another person.
10. “When I’m stressed and overstimulated, I quietly hum or groan. When I’m extremely happy, I smile a ‘Cheshire Cat’ grin, rock back and forth and voice a little. Stimming is comforting, and it lets off pressure from good and bad emotions. I don’t necessarily think ‘I need to stim,’ I just do.” — as per another person.

11. “Stimming is like breathing… just as natural, just as important.” —said another.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                         FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                  https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/           

                                                                           FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                  https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com