by Heather Galloway
As a “girl” with autism, the subject of girls and autism is dear to my heart.
In spite of the questions I get about girls and autism, until now, I hadn’t prepared an adequate response. I simply told people what it was like for me and gave a really general answer.
So, I decided to put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard!) and give you all a starting point to help you to navigate the issues around girls and autism.
I wanted to get you information quickly. I realize you don’t need answers today, next week, next month – you need it yesterday, last week and last month.
This post will be edited, added to, and maybe broken up into several posts in the future. For now, I think it will help you get started. Also, let me know if it helps, if you need more, etc., by commenting below.
I am not a psychiatrist, psychologist, medical doctor, therapist, etc., I am an autist. So I am writing from the position not of having formally studied autism, but having lived it.
Also, I am omitting discussion of actual brain functioning here as it goes beyond the purpose of this post. If there is demonstrated interest, I will cover it in a later post. In addition, at some point in the future, I will write on the state of research about girls and autism.
The Short and Sweet Truth about Girls and Autism
The short and sweet truth about girls and autism is sad.
- We don’t know much about what causes it.
- What it looks like largely remains a mystery.
- We don’t know how to manage it.
Read the rest of the article on Heather’s website.
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Heather Galloway, B.A., J.D.
Heather is a mom, a teacher, a consultant, an author, a mentor, a friend, a daughter, a student, and so much more, in spite of her Autism, hhhmmm…or maybe sometimes because of it!
Heather graduated from college (with a double major) and law school, educated her own kids, worked in a variety of jobs (Adjunct Faculty at a university, HR Specialist, Senior Communications Coordinator (yes, communications!! HAHA!!), and served whole-heartedly in her community teaching and mentoring kids and their parents in a variety of subjects.
Heather is passionate about working in the autism community to provide the everyday solutions needed by autists to reach their potential in a neurotypical world. Her primary tool for accomplishing this goal is her blog herautism.com where she shares her struggles, celebrates her wins, proposes solutions to tough problems and encourages girls and women with autism to embrace themselves just as they are.
“I know that for me doing things the ways others commonly do them doesn’t always work, and I can’t wait to show you different ways to have amazing days.
Whether you have Autism, or are caring for someone who does, I look forward to our journey together!”
Thank you for sharing this post. How autism appears in girls is much different than boys, but the diagnosis criteria is the same (which is why many have previously gone undiagnosed). I am glad there is more research going into girls, but there is not enough.
We also shared a post on symptoms in girls on our blog. I had searched for quiet some time for information on girls/autism prior to my daughter’s diagnosis, and found very few posts. Many of which were not any help. Since then, we have shared the symptoms that my daughter has on our site. I am glad to see more stories on girls being shared and looking forward to future posts!