Maybe another reasons girls are less likely to receive a diagnosis??

[AuBurney Tuckerson]

I'm thinking, actually one of the main reasons for this is because autistic girls are easier than autistic boys. Autistic girls experience the same things inside and have a hard time dealing with things, can't figure out why they feel different than their peers, etc. Maybe seem OVERLY shy, OVERLY quiet, etc. But these things are easier for parents and teachers to deal with.

2 boys and 1 girl.
The girl won't join in things unless an adult leads her to join. She's super quiet and doesn't talk to anyone except a handful of people (talks to mom, dad, grandparents, siblings. doesn't talk to aunts, uncles, friends of family, most peers). She feels left out because her 1 friend sat with someone else, and though she could sit with them, does not because she doesn't know the other person. Has a harder time understanding and learning, but mimics her older sister, and probably spend most the evenings working on homework. It takes her the entire evening because of distractions, difficulty understanding what she's supposed to be doing, etc.
I could go on, but the point I'm making is that these things may be difficult for the girl, but it doesn't make life more difficult for anyone else.

The 2 boys are hard. Calls from teachers almost daily. Hits siblings and won't share - just grabs things from siblings or others. Won't listen, therefore won't behave as told. Non-stop busy with no limits they understand. Makes noises at inappropriate times. Again, I could go on and on.
Point being that these things interfere with the adults life and time having to supervise and it IS difficult for everyone around.

So, yes, it's more obvious in boys, but also it's just harder and the parents and teachers just realize they don't know what to do and need help and seek help from professionals. With girls, it's "aww, poor thing, you can see she's struggling." With boys, it's "HELP! I can't deal with this."

Uh, uh, uh! -waves finger- I'm a girl, and I'm VERY obvious. xD Yet, people still misunderstand me. My mother tells me it's obvious I'm autistic and that my family knew from the start (I wasn't diagnosed til the end of 2018), and a friend from my roleplay group said it was pretty obvious (even though we don't even know each other in person). If people can tell and point it out through the internet, then that just proves it lol. My mother even tells me that I was very obvious as a child, and anyone could've pointed out that I was autistic then (or at least, abnormal). Got constant calls from teachers as a toddler, sensory issues stopped me from doing simple things like sitting in a chair or at a table. I definitely didn't like being touched.

 

[Pats]

Uh, uh, uh! -waves finger- I'm a girl, and I'm VERY obvious. xD Yet, people still misunderstand me. My mother tells me it's obvious I'm autistic and that my family knew from the start (I wasn't diagnosed til the end of 2018), and a friend from my roleplay group said it was pretty obvious (even though we don't even know each other in person). If people can tell and point it out through the internet, then that just proves it lol. My mother even tells me that I was very obvious as a child, and anyone could've pointed out that I was autistic then (or at least, abnormal). Got constant calls from teachers as a toddler, sensory issues stopped me from doing simple things like sitting in a chair or at a table. I definitely didn't like being touched.

I'm not trying to say it isn't obvious. I'm saying that often (and I will stop using girl/boy examples), those autistics that present as quiet, not upsetting everyone around them, not requiring more time from adults, not having to padlock the door to keep them from wandering off, etc etc may not be taken for an evaluation to begin with because they are not difficult for the parents to deal with. It was obvious something was wrong with me, but I was quiet, I hid, I never created any kind of problems and just suffered silently - possibly because they didn't see a need to fix me. Why would you fix someone who's easy to deal with? It's an attitude of "life may be difficult for you but you're not bothering me or anyone else so we're just going to continue as it is."
Actually, I remember hearing over and over my parents and siblings saying they should never have took me to learn to talk because I started talking non stop at times, having to follow them around to finish talking. So they may have even wished they hadn't fixed that part, and just let me continue to be quiet. lol

 

[AuBurney Tuckerson]

I'm not trying to say it isn't obvious. I'm saying that often (and I will stop using girl/boy examples), those autistics that present as quiet, not upsetting everyone around them, not requiring more time from adults, not having to padlock the door to keep them from wandering off, etc etc may not be taken for an evaluation to begin with because they are not difficult for the parents to deal with. It was obvious something was wrong with me, but I was quiet, I hid, I never created any kind of problems and just suffered silently - possibly because they didn't see a need to fix me. Why would you fix someone who's easy to deal with? It's an attitude of "life may be difficult for you but you're not bothering me or anyone else so we're just going to continue as it is."
Actually, I remember hearing over and over my parents and siblings saying they should never have took me to learn to talk because I started talking non stop at times, having to follow them around to finish talking. So they may have even wished they hadn't fixed that part, and just let me continue to be quiet. lol

I had the problem of "talking too much", too. Plus, I was obvious in a sense that I was the problematic child that couldn't touch certain objects, screamed all the time, and didn't talk til I had speech therapy. I was a head hitter, too. Would have tanked ad number 1 worst child (as a toddler only). I had the nickname Screamin' Demon. These were my baby to toddler years. Ad a kid and older, I was a lot better.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

I was labeled as autistic in the 1980s, but the school cut off my therapy because the school district said that girls don't get autism.

I was nonverbal on and off. But when I was talking, I was very disruptive and goofy, desperate to fit in.

Once the school took me out of services, my autistic behaviors were looked on as rebellion, and I was disciplined severely at school and home for stimming, meltdowns, etc.

 

[Pats]

I was labeled as autistic in the 1980s, but the school cut off my therapy because the school district said that girls don't get autism.

I was nonverbal on and off. But when I was talking, I was very disruptive and goofy, desperate to fit in.

Once the school took me out of services, my autistic behaviors were looked on as rebellion, and I was disciplined severely at school and home for stimming, meltdowns, etc.

I was labeled as autistic in the 1980s, but the school cut off my therapy because the school district said that girls don't get autism.

I was nonverbal on and off. But when I was talking, I was very disruptive and goofy, desperate to fit in.

Once the school took me out of services, my autistic behaviors were looked on as rebellion, and I was disciplined severely at school and home for stimming, meltdowns, etc.

That's outrageous. I hope things have improved and continue to improve for all the autistic community.

 

[Adora]

I definitely fit the female representation and it could be another reason why I didn’t know until I was 31. I have always been introverted and people thought I was just shy and quiet.

At school when I was in year 4 I had a teacher who would complain that I daydream too much in class and also she thought I spoke in a rude tone and would try to correct me all the time about how I spoke.

I also had obvious difficulties during school when it came to schoolwork and it never seemed to dawn on my teachers to maybe recommend that I get at least checked up for either Autism or other things like learning difficulties.

I do believe girls even if showing obvious difficulties will slip through the cracks and that can be harmful because many girls will miss out on early intervention and if you put other things in the mix could lead to many mental health commorbids in the future.