Kevin Pelphrey, a neuroscientist and autism researcher at the University of Virginia Brain Institute, said that more than 15 years ago, when his own daughter started showing symptoms of autism, even he didn’t recognize them. The pediatricians told her, “’It’s probably not autism, she’s a girl,’” Pelphrey recalled.
Brain systems involved in social behavior develop more rapidly in girls, she said, which may be a “protective factor” for girls with autism, especially in early childhood.
However, as they get older and social relationships between girls become more complex, girls with autism start to stand out more and are often bullied, Pelphrey explained.
“That brings us to another big difference between boys and girls: Girls can be much more prone to developing anxiety and depression,” she said.
These psychiatric problems can also hide the underlying autism and lead to misdiagnosis.
Dena Gassner, 61, a social work graduate student at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, had social and emotional problems since she was little, but doctors never mentioned autism as a possible diagnosis. As many girls with this disorder, Gassner had been sexually abused, and her emotional problems were later attributed to the abuse. She was also misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder.
He wasn’t diagnosed with autism until he was 40, six years following his son was diagnosed. At first, her diagnosis surprised her, in part because her son’s problems—such as language delays and fixation on certain activities and movies—were so different from hers.
