How can I tell if I'm autistic as a woman?

From a young age, girls with autism tend to present differently than boys, and it's the same for women with autism who present differently from men. This is a fact that has often led to the severe misunderstanding and delayed diagnosis of autism and ADHD in women. As a result of this, autistic women don't receive a diagnosis with enough time and tend to judge themselves harshly for finding life a little more difficult than they would have.

What's more, mental health issues are far more common in autistic women than they are in autistic men. If there's one thing that we have seen in recent years, it's that a diagnosis of autism for women often feels that it has a positive impact on their self esteem and their confidence. They no longer feel like they're overreacting, but simply reacting to the world around them that they're experiencing. They don't feel like they are being unreasonable in their actions, but that autism and the traits of autism are making them interact with the world in a way that makes sense, even if it doesn't make sense to anybody else.

Receiving an autism diagnosis can also help to ensure that women have the right kind of support and access resources available but as we already know, there is a lot in healthcare that goes against women and so finding the right space such as Prosper Health for a diagnosis is important. If you believe that you are a woman who is potentially autistic, then getting your diagnosis as soon as possible is vital for your future.

Any woman who's reached the point of wondering whether or not she's autistic may find it hard to get that definitive information.It's predominantly been viewed as a condition that only affects boys and men, but there are some symptoms that women experience that can lean towards a diagnosis of autism. Let's take a look at whether or not you could be dealing with everyday overwhelming feelings or undiagnosed chaos that you weren't aware of.

• You find social situations difficult. One of the main reasons that some women wonder whether they are autistic is a lifetime of social difficulties. They've never felt like they fit in with their peers, or they feel that they're on the periphery of social circles. ASD, or autism spectrum disorder , is a developmental disorder, which means that people who are born with autism often find it difficult to read and respond to social cues. Often women in particular will navigate this by creating a social checklist and learn how to respond to people around them in a way that's expected rather than how they actually feel. They often feel socially anxious and they will think about their social interactions and feel left out and lonely as a result. Autistic women often interact quite well in one to one situations, but group situations can be exhausting.

• You experience the world differently. Neurotypical people tend not to become overwhelmed by too much noise or sound. You may even become overwhelmed with too many smells or lights in the room. For an autistic woman, it's not just a case of not liking something, it's a sense of being unable to tolerate it. It's when noise is coming in from so many different areas that you feel like it's getting underneath your skin, making you physically ache. If people are breathing in the same room and you can't sleep, or you have to leave a train carriage because somebody is eating and misophonia  is making it so that you can't stand the sound of chewing, then you might be looking towards more of a diagnosis of autism than anything else.

• Problems with  executive function . This is very common in autistic women. This is a set of skills that involves working memory, flexible thinking and self-control at the same time. And if you have executive function problems you might find it very difficult to organise yourself or finish tasks through to the end. Maintaining emotional control is also a problem, and that can happen whether you're at work or at home. It can be very difficult for women to complete tasks at work which are deemed less interesting than others, and keeping a clean house is often a no go.

• Specialist and intensive interests. Both men and women who are autistic tend to have specialized interests, and people with autism will often display a what if then thinking they want to get to the bottom of how something works. For some people it can be in engineering, like how a car works or how a bus is running, but for others it can be how the mind works or how people work. Autistic women are often skilled researchers, and very many of them may gravitate towards careers or hobbies that require an intense level of focus, such as in medicine, the level of research required and the ability to focus on one topic at a time is a way to feel in control, especially if you’re doing it with a subject you like.

• Masking is easy. Autistic women tend to have a greater desire to be sociable and seen as socially acceptable than autistic men. Women especially will spend a considerable amount of time and energy camouflaging and masking how they feel, which is why young girls are often misdiagnosed. Typical women of and men and autistic men can also camouflage, but autistic women tend to do so to a far higher degree. This then leads to a higher level of unravelling when things do become too overwhelming.

• A struggle to sleep. Many autistic women experience difficulties in sleeping and usually this is due to sensory issues. If there is a high sensitivity to noise at night or the problem with feeling comfortable, then sleep can be something that's wished for rather than something experienced. Even the presence of another person can exacerbate sleep issues, so it's important that women who are looking to get diagnosed talk about this when they are speaking to a doctor.

Problems with emotional regulation. Autistic women are often misdiagnosed as being hysterical. There's often an issue in those who are autistic with emotional regulation, and research has shown that there's a poor connection between the frontal cortex and the amygdala in the brain with autistic people. To put it as simply as possible, the amygdala can be thought of as an emotion center in the brain, as it's part of the limbic system and the mammalian brain. The frontal cortex is the thinking brain, and when this link is broken and the connection is too poor, it can be very difficult to regulate those emotions . Women can then find it harder to rationalise situations and keep themselves in control. Some would describe having meltdowns or extreme emotional reactions to situations that may result in crying or losing their temper. For some women, it involves going into a shutdown mode.

Undiagnosed chaos for autistic women can often feel overwhelming and scary. Getting the diagnosis that you need is the first step in living a life that makes more sense. You want to feel like things are more in control, and you can do that. When you have a diagnosis of autism underneath your belt, you'll learn, be able to gain access to resources, and gain support from those around you. It's important to seek out counseling therapies if you believe that you are autistic.