How Do I Know If I'm An Autistic Female? (And How to get female autism test in the UK)

First step to knowing if you’re autistic is to get a female autism test UK, internationally known as AQ-10 test. Your score will suggest to you what next step to take. This post will take a look into the cause and diagnosis of autism in females.

More often than not, autism in women is misunderstood, misdiagnosed/underdiagnosed or altogether missed in the presence of conditions like ADHD.

Autism or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been shown by different studies to manifest differently in females. While there is a scarcity of scientific research with many of such medical issues with women, it is important to know about female autism, in order to be better able to spot signs and act accordingly.

What do we know about female autism?

Numbers may vary but it is generally accepted that autism is more commonly diagnosed in men than women. Per current estimates, around three men receive autistic diagnosis for every one woman.

Though research suggests it is unlikely to be equally common amongst both sexes, more evidence suggests that diagnostic procedures fail to capture how ASD manifests in women, exaggerating the existing difference in rates of prevalence.

What’s more, women have been found diagnosed with autism at substantially later stages. Because they experience much more delays from the time of initial evaluation to clinical diagnosis, it impacts associated numbers and statistics.

There are a number of reasons autism is underdiagnosed in females. For one, women are more likely to internalise autism-born anxiety; rather than becoming aggressive, they become either antisocial or depressed. Most cultures do not frown at female shyness, so when they suffer from the condition, they often choose socially acceptable fascinations like dolls or unicorns.

Causes and diagnosis of female autism

In most cases, the cause of female autism is unfounded. However, it is a highly heritable disorder, which means there is an attached genetic component that runs in families. A good number of autism patients are known to possess unique genetic mutations that are uninherited.

In some cases, it could be certain drugs taken by the birth parent during pregnancy, fragile X syndrome, having older parents and low birth weight—especially when the newborn is premature. Evidence suggests it is under-diagnosed in women because they express it in ways that don’t meet current diagnostic criteria.

Because there is no medical test for autism, diagnosis is based on observation and specific tests. The disorder is typically diagnosed in children—rather than adults—and diagnosis is often carried out by a psychologist, neurologists or development pediatrician, with participation from experts in speech and physical development.

A fundamental issue with existing diagnostic processes is: behavioral markers used as criteria are established based on pre-existing conceptions regarding the looks of autistic behaviors. These markers have been determined based on the predominantly male population identified as austic.

While there is no cure for autism, there is a wide range of available treatment metjods. At Dr J and Colleagues, female autism tests are based on the best practice models in the United Kingdom—they are designed in line with cutting-edge research and meet government standards, including the gold standard recommendations from the NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence).

There are no shortcuts or hotkeys; less robust assessments online or in person are more likely to yield misleading results and incorrect diagnosis.

Get in touch with us today if you feel you need help with female autism test UK