Mental health – Autism in women, a disease often camouflaged

– Autism in women, a disease often camouflaged

It was long believed that women were less affected than men by autism. Not sure. Research suggests that they mask their symptoms more, leading to a tendency to be underdiagnosed.

Francesca Sacco

Posted: 01/13/2022, 2:05 PM

Today, women with autism are diagnosed more than four years behind compared to men.

FRANCESCO CARTA / Getty Images

Last November, Belgian comedian Laura Laune, winner of the 2017 television competition “France has an incredible talent”, publicly revealed that she had Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. It was while researching the internet that the actress learned that autistic disorders are expressed differently in women and men, which is why they are often misdiagnosed.

What is called autism is not a mental illness. It brings together a set of developmental anomalies that manifest themselves in difficulties in decoding the implicit rules of human relations: people with autism do not know how to come into contact with others. In addition, they tend to have stereotypical attitudes or gestures, as well as very specific interests, in which they often excel. Cartoon example: Inspector Monk, hero of the American television series of the same name.