I'm pretty deep into an autism research rabbit hole, and this is by far the most informative video I've seen. Love the narrative the different papers form together. Definitely going to rewatch this one a few times 🧡
This is a great analysis of camouflaged but I would love to see more on the differences in symptomatic expression based on Excitatory/Inhibitory imbalance in the brain
Waited until after my assessment to start diving into these lectures in earnest**, and honestly...I wish I saw this sooner. It's a huge relief to see my (in retrospect, VERY obvious) "camouflaging" behaviors listed back to me in such detail and contextualized as the coping strategies they are. I can finally start to think of them as how I deal with a world that's not structured for how my brain is wired, and not the overwhelming evidence of core deficiencies I always believed them to be. Deeply grateful for all the research going into how autism presents in women/AFAB folks. Thank you so much. **Prior to really looking into symptoms for women I vaguely understood that I mirror others to get through most situations and am very good at replicating neurotypical behaviors. As a result, I was scared I wouldn't be able to authentically answer the questions if I "knew too much." Imagine having such ingrained anxiety/masking habits that you literally worry about "cheating" on your autism test. 😂 Incredible.
Omg that's funny. 😂 Yet, so real! I've definitely done that before, provided the answers I know the tester is looking for, or would elicit a specific result that I actually wanted, rather than a realistic, genuine answer lol.
@@kaylaschroeder1 Exactly!!! Back in college I participated in a CBT study run by psych students. Got 2/3rds of the way through before it CLICKED that giving "correct answers" that suggested "improvement" in the CBT workbook -- a workbook with daily exercises that I frantically filled out in the lobby of the psych building before weekly 30 min sessions -- was...uh...not as helpful as I thought it was. All I can hope is that the guy was skilled enough to recognize what I was doing and that my participation was a small enough contribution that it didn't skew study results too badly. 😟
@@coRynnstar Aww lol. I wouldn't harp too much on it, darlin'. Kinda confusing, though, yeah? So, by you providing the "correct" answers, the answers they were looking for (?), it was actually not as beneficial to the study itself? Am I understanding that correctly? What was the intention of the test?
@@kaylaschroeder1 One of these days I'm going to get a handle on clear and concise sentences...🤣 Sorry about the confusion! To my understanding, it was a study on a CBT workbook with daily exercises and journal prompts. I think they wanted to see if it could be an effective tool for self-guided therapy between in-person sessions. It wasn't at all effective for me, and me telling them otherwise said more about my anxiety re: being a "bad" subject than anything about the workbook. 😅
Haha yes! I did not know other people felt this way. I have months until my assessment and I regularly think I’ve made up the whole thing…until something reminds me how it has all clicked into place!
I enjoy this, and have saved it so I can come back to it. I appreciate people researching and putting more focus on this than before. The damage and mental health issues that come from constant masking/camouflaging is, IMO, the biggest reason women are more likely to learn they are autistic because it all leads to burnout. There comes a point for a lot of people where they just can't go on as they were able to before, regardless of them knowing they're autistic or not at that point. It's even more difficult if they've been misdiagnosed with something else entirely, which is highly probable given the amount of autistic women who seek treatment for emotional difficulties from people who are unable to see their autism, quickly assigning something more stereotypical for their gender. It's a big mess, and I am so happy when I see that people are actively working on and talking about this. It gives me so much hope.
21:35 Perhaps one reason why people who mask/camouflage more are more prone to depression, anxiety, stress and suicidality, is the fact that they feel the need to mask in order to feel accepted, included, loved and/or respected. Maybe those who mask less, already feel like they are all or most of the above, or they are less socially inclined in the first place, so they don't feel the need to mask to fit in. What I'm trying to say is, while masking makes you exhausted, maybe itself doesn't cause depression, anxiety, stress and suicidality, but the other way round; feeling depressed, anxious and stressed makes you mask and be suicidal.
I would have loved a deeper discussion of stigma and it's impact on camouflaging: since women are culturally "second-class" citizens (in different ways in different cultures) - what impact would the additional burden of "autism stigma" have, especially in terms of suicidality, and successful suicide action?
Thanks for doing this study. That autistic female child was me in the 1970's and there was no help for people like me or recognition of our suffering in these social institutions. They didn't know much about autism. I must say school environments are particular sadistic torture for us. My autistic son is being protected from what happened to me, I home school him. So my health has suffered, and my ability to handle any stress is gone. I hope the government can create non-social accommodations for autistic people. For instance, I needed to be home schooled, and I needed a job where I could work from home or be alone. I was the autistic child who went through the entire school experience saying NOT ONE WORD to any one, and I would hide away whenever I could. And I have continual nightmares of being at school well into age 50 years old. And I have nightmares of being at my job. Buy hey I'm pretty good at pretending to sound normal now, but it took me 30 years to acquire this ability. People should know that autistic people are attacked by the chimpanzees for not socializing, so what help is there for us? Too late, I have already suffered through this. Suicidal thoughts yes, but then I decided I will stay on this planet for the animals, I figured out how cruel it is to eat and test on animals at age 9 while looking at the pork chop my mom put on my plate. Any one suicidal, live for a cause beyond yourself and look at the cruelty of humans and stay alive to fight it. I have been vegan for a long time and dedicate my life to helping animals.
I took the cat test and scored 163!!! I'm a hsp and empath and I struggle with alcohol abuse. I wish there was more research on substance abuse because I like to drink to help me cope and it makes me less shy.
@@becurious17 we need to speak up about it to our doctors etc. It's a serious issue and maybe there are lots of people that deal with alcohol abuse that are on the spectrum but they don't know they have autism.
@@celinahuezo5518 Exactly. 💯 I totally agree. I recently began questioning if I'm on the autism spectrum and I've taken many of the self tests. I haven't had alcohol since Oct 2020 and without it I've been able to see myself more clearly. All the struggles and differences I've had throughout my life make a lot of sense through the lens of autism. My goal is to get an assessment once I can afford it.
I wish I could camouflage or "mask" as some call it as well as most girls with autism can. I know most of us are able to hide it relatively well but unfortunately there are exceptions like me, I have fairly pronounced symptoms but thankfully because of my high IQ I'm technically considered high functioning.
Basically, what camouflaging is, is learning neurotypical behaviors as a "second language". It's additional stress that neurotypical people never have to deal with.
@@Magnulus76 Neurotypical behavior seems to be "yes, but not, except when it is, unless it's not, then it is, except when it's not". Trying to even understand takes all the fun out of interacting because I'm never really comfortable. I've curtailed a few behaviors that I was told were seen as exceptionally rude, like how I'd tell people to keep listening and not talk when I wasn't done talking. People thought I was being mean but I was trying to be helpful. And I only found out when I overheard people talking like "that girl with autism (except they used a not-so-nice descriptor that I don't wish to repeat) never shuts up, and she's so rude, she just wants to hear herself talk" then they said some mean things about my excessive saliva, but what stood out was the "she's rude" part. I asked a teacher and he told me that the way I told people I wasn't done talking was rude. That surprised me. I ended up feeling bad and apologizing to people and tried to explain I wasn't being rude on purpose, I thought I was helping them. But I asked them why they never told me this and they said they were afraid of hurting my feelings, I told them that it hurts more hearing it behind your back. Neurotypicals love to do that it seems. I noticed also that when trying to learn their body language that they express so many things they don't mean to, and that learning body language isn't enough, you have to guess which to pay attention to and which not.
GREAT info in this on children in social groups for girls with ASD. I am a teacher who has been an Education Assistant and, yes, I had noticed the boys and individual play. For girls my notice has been, yes, small social groups but during activities such as gym they need deeper explanation of rules or want to opt out of full-group games (eg dodgeball, volleyball, etc). There is a difficulty masking as the social need of grasping rules and gameplay alongside the standard interactions is much trickier. I also have worked through informally that I am ASD from my own observations of kiddos with ASD who were really mirrors of me as a kid. The bonus is knowing how helpful this makes me as educator of these young people! Others see meltdown while I see overwhelm…even if to others it’s “minor”.
Here I thought that I was learning social skills. Was I really just learning camouflage? Is that why I am more suicidal than I used to be? I finally have some friends and a relationship but what good is it if I am more suicidal?
This is a really good talk, thank you for sharing it! I am wondering, is there a place where I could access the presentation itself? Thank you in advance.
I am a woman and I was diagnosed with Autism as a toddler. I have trouble relating to other women on the spectrum, I can not relate to high functioning or low functioning women. I am a strange case and I’ve always been referred to as such by every psychiatrist and neurologist I have come into contact with.
THE BEST!!!!🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 THANK YOU🙏🏼THANK YOU🙏🏼 I’m going to hopefully get a list of these papers as an info sheet to take with me just in case I’m not taken seriously.
I never camouflaged Well enough for the drs to use that excuse. Gps are to lazy to learn. I know more than my gps in many of my conditions, just by being up to date. For twenty years exactly, I was trying to get the drs to refer me to a specialist. They had this one catch frase znd still do, "you aren't autistic, you wouldn't be looking at me if you were autistic. " My friend in Scotland is definitely autistic. A dr told her, "they aren't interested in helping adults with autism, only children. Your life is over, we are only helping children because they have their life ahead."
I’m not sure how many autistic people would give this good news or bad news type rating but the first thing I would like to mention I am self diagnosed with autism and where I am on the spectrum but nobody that I’ve noticed in the community have used camouflaging everybody uses masking camouflage is not an excepted term that I know of within the community and there are other things I could discuss in Great detail about in this video but I am not good with writing because I also have a learning disability and I also am transgender I am a transgender female so I would like to see more information on studies with transgender women and autism but could we get a more representation of autistic people doing the research not people that are outside the community which doesn’t carry a whole lot of weight within the community and I personally as Danielle Pitmon identify with she her and her pronouns
Yeah In this study this is towards biological females. If they are basing their findings in biology then it would most likely fall under your biological sex. Masking might not relate to you since your gender identity doesn’t connect with your biological sex. But you might of been masking in other ways.. since you have a lot going on internally ( not a bad thing at all) Curious to know how it was like for you growing up. Biological women do have different brains than biological male counterparts even including hormones. So I’m curious to know as well what it would be for a transgender women with autism. Hopefully I didn’t disrespect you in anyway with my reply, I’m autistic as well and sometimes I’m too direct and not good with words either.
@@jessicalarsen7094 yeah I agree but my experience is definitely different I’m not sure exactly how to describe it other than the fact that there are times I feel like I’m in the wrong body which is the majority of the time and my life is very confusing and I still just don’t know how to react to some things in my life that have happened but yeah I have a female brain and unfortunately I was in the wrong body but now things are starting to come in to line more with my transition I had been confused when I was a kid until I complete my transition and no your comment was not disrespectful I actually find it very refreshing to hear people speak completely and truthfully on their mind and I do the same thing mrs. fun when I say very offensive and just not right according to normal society and no matter what I say I tend to offend people very easily because I don’t know how to say things without being too critical or offensive to others I may not actually have autism but I think I have a very good understanding of what that might feel like I don’t wanna do it as self identifying but can’t get an official diagnosis
@@danyelPitmon if we are talking scientifically speaking they found studies that it’s imbalance in the brain that’s causing you to feel like you are in the wrong body. I believed they called it gender dysphoria. Which I believe isn’t the correct term now right? ( sorry not good with social norms ). Like that’s not politically correct? I don’t know anything about that, except the brain is very complex . The brain is very powerful, and we still don’t have enough to understand why our brains only do certain things. I wouldn’t wish autism on anyone. It’s very hard to deal with sometimes. It’s like living in my head constantly. I believe we might have that in common. I can’t imagine living like that , feeling like your trapped in the wrong body . That In it self seems miserable. It’s a shame that your mind can’t match your body biologically. Must of been very confusing for you. It’s like seeing your biology, but your brain is telling you differently. I am glad you can transition into a women so you can live your truth. I believe everyone should live how they feel most comfortable without judgments. To be honest transgenderism used to confuse me. In my brain I couldn’t wrap my head around it( just part of my autism) but over time I started to understand by engaging with trans people. Have to spend time with people to understand them. You might have autism as well . Self diagnosis is considered legit in our community. It’s hard to find a doctor to diagnose you as an adult. We welcome you ❤️❤️
I think there might be a bias against "camo," because it usually relates to hunting and warfare. "Camouflaging" is a pretty good metaphor, as we are trying to blend in with our social surroundings rather than to disappear, as a mask might enable us to do. Ironically, having to camouflage causes us to want to disappear after awhile.
Everyone understands this as "masking". Choosing to use the word "camouflage" is slightly misleading as that is a word whose meaning is typically associated to conditions of war or training for it. Such has nothing to do with being ND. "Masking", again, is the common terminology and therefore better for communicating the phenomenon to a wider audience. Masking IS the result of the additionally enormous social pressures little girls receive, well meaning or not, and it's totally toxic and abusive to do. It inhibits and frustrates naturally occurring, for the autistic person, (and it would be great if people would LISTEN to those on the spectrum instead of prescribing in advance to the general public how autistic people will act or speak WITHOUT their inclusion in the conversation that is, supposedly, ABOUT THEM), expressive mechanisms. When autistic girls are taught to clamp down on their own feelings to defer to the feelings of others, you are ADDING additional burdens to the person with Autism who ALREADY is undergoing internal pressures for being different, even if only mildly detectable, and having difficulty connecting socially. What we now face, because of ableist conformity pressures, are MANY adult women finding out late in life their maladaptive issues AREN'T a "lack of good character" but literally trying to navigate an external world that is cruel, demanding, intolerant, dismissive, judgemental, and bullying to people who has no control WHAT.SO.EVER in being both on the spectrum. With comorbid symptoms of Depression and ADHD, you've got a large group of people floundering and/or have no medical support whatsoever BECAUSE the community of AS experts in the country is small itself AND modalities and methods were built with BOYS in mind. Literally NO consideration that such a condition could/would impact females twice as hard, merely from being LEFT OUT of ALL existing processes available to detect and diagnose autism in women and girls. The very community that defines itself as experts in Autism is FAILING WOMEN AND GIRLS WITH AUTISM and when they ARE considered, it's often done with incorrect and sexist language (eg "female brains" are not actually a thing, but this idea still gets passed around to our detriment and REINFORCES misogyny in medicine. Racism and homophobia are also prevalent given the myth that Asperger's is a white male diagnosis only, nevermind that does nothing positive for men and boys on the spectrum either but single them out. If you're going to talk about women with Autism but not even give ten minutes from the autistic person's experiences relayed from THEIR pov, then much of what you hope to achieve, won't be because the misunderstanding, objectification of people with autism, and exclusion will only continue and change come at snails pace. For the CURRENT group of women and girls struggling to find recognition of their condition and useful supports in their communities, they are CURRENTLY left with NOTHING being available at all.
Is it possible to do follow up studies to figure out if camoflaguing and masking would count as a restricted interest? I think if it was shown as being that, that would create value in asking and testing for it more often in clinical settings.
AT THE DiSCREPANCY METHOD-THE FEMALES REGISTERING AND PERCEIVING THEIR FEELING AUTISTIC AND AUTISTIC FEATURES IN CONTRAST TO MALES AS WELL AS THEIR CAMO SCORES IS VERY INDICATIVE TO ME OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE SEXUAL BRAINS (NEUROLOGY) WITH OUR SENSE OF PROPRIOCEPTION, AND IN AN ORGANIC PHYSIOLOGICAL WAY, WHICH IS VERY FASCINATING TO ME AND RELEVANT
Though masking/ camouflage is one way to describe it, and it is not wrong. I believe a stronger more accurate way of describing it would be etiquette. Females have a high demand for following proper etiquette. It’s as if we’re Geisha’s in Japan. You are not a Geisha unless you behave a certain way / girls don’t behave a certain way. Boys are given a lot more freedom to behave in ways that would be socially acceptable in all aspects of their lives, for example, a teenage boy with a girlfriend is applauded/ celebrated especially if he’s had a number of gfs. A teenage girl for the exact same behaviour is shamed for being morally reprehensible etc. So of course these expectations, especially of some autistic individuals who are highly sensitive/ aware and have very deep feelings will oblige by the social expectations. It’s no different than a lawyer wearing a suit in court, we all know he/she doesn’t wear a suit in their leisure time. Another example is, a Bride wearing a white gown at her wedding, we know its for the event. None of these people are masking or camouflaging. They are simply dressing/ behaving for the occasion. Same concept for autistic women in society.
I'm pretty deep into an autism research rabbit hole, and this is by far the most informative video I've seen. Love the narrative the different papers form together. Definitely going to rewatch this one a few times 🧡
I agree. This was fantastic.
There’s a talk I found the other day about autistic burnout by Dora Raymaker. That’s an interesting one and feel at the age of 57 it’s where I’m at!
This is a great analysis of camouflaged but I would love to see more on the differences in symptomatic expression based on Excitatory/Inhibitory imbalance in the brain
Waited until after my assessment to start diving into these lectures in earnest**, and honestly...I wish I saw this sooner. It's a huge relief to see my (in retrospect, VERY obvious) "camouflaging" behaviors listed back to me in such detail and contextualized as the coping strategies they are. I can finally start to think of them as how I deal with a world that's not structured for how my brain is wired, and not the overwhelming evidence of core deficiencies I always believed them to be. Deeply grateful for all the research going into how autism presents in women/AFAB folks. Thank you so much.
**Prior to really looking into symptoms for women I vaguely understood that I mirror others to get through most situations and am very good at replicating neurotypical behaviors. As a result, I was scared I wouldn't be able to authentically answer the questions if I "knew too much." Imagine having such ingrained anxiety/masking habits that you literally worry about "cheating" on your autism test. 😂 Incredible.
Omg that's funny. 😂 Yet, so real! I've definitely done that before, provided the answers I know the tester is looking for, or would elicit a specific result that I actually wanted, rather than a realistic, genuine answer lol.
@@kaylaschroeder1 Exactly!!! Back in college I participated in a CBT study run by psych students. Got 2/3rds of the way through before it CLICKED that giving "correct answers" that suggested "improvement" in the CBT workbook -- a workbook with daily exercises that I frantically filled out in the lobby of the psych building before weekly 30 min sessions -- was...uh...not as helpful as I thought it was. All I can hope is that the guy was skilled enough to recognize what I was doing and that my participation was a small enough contribution that it didn't skew study results too badly. 😟
@@coRynnstar Aww lol. I wouldn't harp too much on it, darlin'. Kinda confusing, though, yeah? So, by you providing the "correct" answers, the answers they were looking for (?), it was actually not as beneficial to the study itself? Am I understanding that correctly? What was the intention of the test?
@@kaylaschroeder1 One of these days I'm going to get a handle on clear and concise sentences...🤣 Sorry about the confusion!
To my understanding, it was a study on a CBT workbook with daily exercises and journal prompts. I think they wanted to see if it could be an effective tool for self-guided therapy between in-person sessions.
It wasn't at all effective for me, and me telling them otherwise said more about my anxiety re: being a "bad" subject than anything about the workbook. 😅
Haha yes! I did not know other people felt this way. I have months until my assessment and I regularly think I’ve made up the whole thing…until something reminds me how it has all clicked into place!
I enjoy this, and have saved it so I can come back to it.
I appreciate people researching and putting more focus on this than before. The damage and mental health issues that come from constant masking/camouflaging is, IMO, the biggest reason women are more likely to learn they are autistic because it all leads to burnout. There comes a point for a lot of people where they just can't go on as they were able to before, regardless of them knowing they're autistic or not at that point. It's even more difficult if they've been misdiagnosed with something else entirely, which is highly probable given the amount of autistic women who seek treatment for emotional difficulties from people who are unable to see their autism, quickly assigning something more stereotypical for their gender. It's a big mess, and I am so happy when I see that people are actively working on and talking about this. It gives me so much hope.
21:35 Perhaps one reason why people who mask/camouflage more are more prone to depression, anxiety, stress and suicidality, is the fact that they feel the need to mask in order to feel accepted, included, loved and/or respected. Maybe those who mask less, already feel like they are all or most of the above, or they are less socially inclined in the first place, so they don't feel the need to mask to fit in.
What I'm trying to say is, while masking makes you exhausted, maybe itself doesn't cause depression, anxiety, stress and suicidality, but the other way round; feeling depressed, anxious and stressed makes you mask and be suicidal.
I would have loved a deeper discussion of stigma and it's impact on camouflaging: since women are culturally "second-class" citizens (in different ways in different cultures) - what impact would the additional burden of "autism stigma" have, especially in terms of suicidality, and successful suicide action?
A great deal.
Thanks for doing this study. That autistic female child was me in the 1970's and there was no help for people like me or recognition of our suffering in these social institutions. They didn't know much about autism. I must say school environments are particular sadistic torture for us. My autistic son is being protected from what happened to me, I home school him. So my health has suffered, and my ability to handle any stress is gone. I hope the government can create non-social accommodations for autistic people. For instance, I needed to be home schooled, and I needed a job where I could work from home or be alone. I was the autistic child who went through the entire school experience saying NOT ONE WORD to any one, and I would hide away whenever I could. And I have continual nightmares of being at school well into age 50 years old. And I have nightmares of being at my job. Buy hey I'm pretty good at pretending to sound normal now, but it took me 30 years to acquire this ability. People should know that autistic people are attacked by the chimpanzees for not socializing, so what help is there for us? Too late, I have already suffered through this. Suicidal thoughts yes, but then I decided I will stay on this planet for the animals, I figured out how cruel it is to eat and test on animals at age 9 while looking at the pork chop my mom put on my plate. Any one suicidal, live for a cause beyond yourself and look at the cruelty of humans and stay alive to fight it. I have been vegan for a long time and dedicate my life to helping animals.
Thank you for this informative video. This needs to be understood by the medical community more, in the UK.
I took the cat test and scored 163!!! I'm a hsp and empath and I struggle with alcohol abuse. I wish there was more research on substance abuse because I like to drink to help me cope and it makes me less shy.
I'd love to see research on that as well. I abused alcohol for years to cope.
@@becurious17 we need to speak up about it to our doctors etc. It's a serious issue and maybe there are lots of people that deal with alcohol abuse that are on the spectrum but they don't know they have autism.
@@celinahuezo5518 Exactly. 💯 I totally agree. I recently began questioning if I'm on the autism spectrum and I've taken many of the self tests. I haven't had alcohol since Oct 2020 and without it I've been able to see myself more clearly. All the struggles and differences I've had throughout my life make a lot of sense through the lens of autism. My goal is to get an assessment once I can afford it.
This was a fascinating presentation. I being a Latina with autism, would love to be used for future research.
Oh don't worry you'll be used! For profit
I wish I could camouflage or "mask" as some call it as well as most girls with autism can. I know most of us are able to hide it relatively well but unfortunately there are exceptions like me, I have fairly pronounced symptoms but thankfully because of my high IQ I'm technically considered high functioning.
Basically, what camouflaging is, is learning neurotypical behaviors as a "second language". It's additional stress that neurotypical people never have to deal with.
@@Magnulus76 Neurotypical behavior seems to be "yes, but not, except when it is, unless it's not, then it is, except when it's not". Trying to even understand takes all the fun out of interacting because I'm never really comfortable. I've curtailed a few behaviors that I was told were seen as exceptionally rude, like how I'd tell people to keep listening and not talk when I wasn't done talking. People thought I was being mean but I was trying to be helpful. And I only found out when I overheard people talking like "that girl with autism (except they used a not-so-nice descriptor that I don't wish to repeat) never shuts up, and she's so rude, she just wants to hear herself talk" then they said some mean things about my excessive saliva, but what stood out was the "she's rude" part. I asked a teacher and he told me that the way I told people I wasn't done talking was rude. That surprised me. I ended up feeling bad and apologizing to people and tried to explain I wasn't being rude on purpose, I thought I was helping them. But I asked them why they never told me this and they said they were afraid of hurting my feelings, I told them that it hurts more hearing it behind your back. Neurotypicals love to do that it seems. I noticed also that when trying to learn their body language that they express so many things they don't mean to, and that learning body language isn't enough, you have to guess which to pay attention to and which not.
I hear you.
*hugs* nts are evil so dont worry
Don't forget even sone NT have Right and Left Brain dominance. Same as us.
GREAT info in this on children in social groups for girls with ASD. I am a teacher who has been an Education Assistant and, yes, I had noticed the boys and individual play. For girls my notice has been, yes, small social groups but during activities such as gym they need deeper explanation of rules or want to opt out of full-group games (eg dodgeball, volleyball, etc). There is a difficulty masking as the social need of grasping rules and gameplay alongside the standard interactions is much trickier.
I also have worked through informally that I am ASD from my own observations of kiddos with ASD who were really mirrors of me as a kid. The bonus is knowing how helpful this makes me as educator of these young people! Others see meltdown while I see overwhelm…even if to others it’s “minor”.
Here I thought that I was learning social skills. Was I really just learning camouflage? Is that why I am more suicidal than I used to be? I finally have some friends and a relationship but what good is it if I am more suicidal?
Has anyone looked into male/female hormones and the correlation with emotional reception and regulation in relation to male female autism?
Maria merino anfew years ago. Google her
This is a really good talk, thank you for sharing it! I am wondering, is there a place where I could access the presentation itself? Thank you in advance.
I am a woman and I was diagnosed with Autism as a toddler. I have trouble relating to other women on the spectrum, I can not relate to high functioning or low functioning women. I am a strange case and I’ve always been referred to as such by every psychiatrist and neurologist I have come into contact with.
Great talk and the thing said at the end was so important.
THE BEST!!!!🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
THANK YOU🙏🏼THANK YOU🙏🏼
I’m going to hopefully get a list of these papers as an info sheet to take with me just in case I’m not taken seriously.
I thought the term was ‘masking’?
I never camouflaged Well enough for the drs to use that excuse. Gps are to lazy to learn. I know more than my gps in many of my conditions, just by being up to date. For twenty years exactly, I was trying to get the drs to refer me to a specialist. They had this one catch frase znd still do, "you aren't autistic, you wouldn't be looking at me if you were autistic. "
My friend in Scotland is definitely autistic. A dr told her, "they aren't interested in helping adults with autism, only children. Your life is over, we are only helping children because they have their life ahead."
@Accra Terminal agency can you send the link?
@Accra Terminal agency 😊
I am a man and since DSM V 2015 they recognised me as a autistic spectrum, on age 49 before it i was normal so its just a matter of defenition.
I found out that I don't have autism rather cluster B personality disorders except bpd. I'd rather have autism because it is more socially acceptable
I’m not sure how many autistic people would give this good news or bad news type rating but the first thing I would like to mention I am self diagnosed with autism and where I am on the spectrum but nobody that I’ve noticed in the community have used camouflaging everybody uses masking camouflage is not an excepted term that I know of within the community and there are other things I could discuss in Great detail about in this video but I am not good with writing because I also have a learning disability and I also am transgender I am a transgender female so I would like to see more information on studies with transgender women and autism but could we get a more representation of autistic people doing the research not people that are outside the community which doesn’t carry a whole lot of weight within the community and I personally as Danielle Pitmon identify with she her and her pronouns
I agree, but she does use the word masking, just in a more specific context. Use whatever word makes you comfortable.
Yeah In this study this is towards biological females. If they are basing their findings in biology then it would most likely fall under your biological sex. Masking might not relate to you since your gender identity doesn’t connect with your biological sex. But you might of been masking in other ways.. since you have a lot going on internally ( not a bad thing at all) Curious to know how it was like for you growing up.
Biological women do have different brains than biological male counterparts even including hormones. So I’m curious to know as well what it would be for a transgender women with autism.
Hopefully I didn’t disrespect you in anyway with my reply, I’m autistic as well and sometimes I’m too direct and not good with words either.
@@jessicalarsen7094 yeah I agree but my experience is definitely different I’m not sure exactly how to describe it other than the fact that there are times I feel like I’m in the wrong body which is the majority of the time and my life is very confusing and I still just don’t know how to react to some things in my life that have happened but yeah I have a female brain and unfortunately I was in the wrong body but now things are starting to come in to line more with my transition I had been confused when I was a kid until I complete my transition and no your comment was not disrespectful I actually find it very refreshing to hear people speak completely and truthfully on their mind and I do the same thing mrs. fun when I say very offensive and just not right according to normal society and no matter what I say I tend to offend people very easily because I don’t know how to say things without being too critical or offensive to others I may not actually have autism but I think I have a very good understanding of what that might feel like I don’t wanna do it as self identifying but can’t get an official diagnosis
@@danyelPitmon if we are talking scientifically speaking they found studies that it’s imbalance in the brain that’s causing you to feel like you are in the wrong body. I believed they called it gender dysphoria. Which I believe isn’t the correct term now right? ( sorry not good with social norms ). Like that’s not politically correct?
I don’t know anything about that, except the brain is very complex . The brain is very powerful, and we still don’t have enough to understand why our brains only do certain things.
I wouldn’t wish autism on anyone. It’s very hard to deal with sometimes. It’s like living in my head constantly. I believe we might have that in common. I can’t imagine living like that , feeling like your trapped in the wrong body . That In it self seems miserable. It’s a shame that your mind can’t match your body biologically. Must of been very confusing for you. It’s like seeing your biology, but your brain is telling you differently.
I am glad you can transition into a women so you can live your truth. I believe everyone should live how they feel most comfortable without judgments.
To be honest transgenderism used to confuse me. In my brain I couldn’t wrap my head around it( just part of my autism) but over time I started to understand by engaging with trans people. Have to spend time with people to understand them.
You might have autism as well . Self diagnosis is considered legit in our community. It’s hard to find a doctor to diagnose you as an adult. We welcome you ❤️❤️
I think there might be a bias against "camo," because it usually relates to hunting and warfare. "Camouflaging" is a pretty good metaphor, as we are trying to blend in with our social surroundings rather than to disappear, as a mask might enable us to do. Ironically, having to camouflage causes us to want to disappear after awhile.
Everyone understands this as "masking". Choosing to use the word "camouflage" is slightly misleading as that is a word whose meaning is typically associated to conditions of war or training for it. Such has nothing to do with being ND. "Masking", again, is the common terminology and therefore better for communicating the phenomenon to a wider audience. Masking IS the result of the additionally enormous social pressures little girls receive, well meaning or not, and it's totally toxic and abusive to do. It inhibits and frustrates naturally occurring, for the autistic person, (and it would be great if people would LISTEN to those on the spectrum instead of prescribing in advance to the general public how autistic people will act or speak WITHOUT their inclusion in the conversation that is, supposedly, ABOUT THEM), expressive mechanisms. When autistic girls are taught to clamp down on their own feelings to defer to the feelings of others, you are ADDING additional burdens to the person with Autism who ALREADY is undergoing internal pressures for being different, even if only mildly detectable, and having difficulty connecting socially. What we now face, because of ableist conformity pressures, are MANY adult women finding out late in life their maladaptive issues AREN'T a "lack of good character" but literally trying to navigate an external world that is cruel, demanding, intolerant, dismissive, judgemental, and bullying to people who has no control WHAT.SO.EVER in being both on the spectrum. With comorbid symptoms of Depression and ADHD, you've got a large group of people floundering and/or have no medical support whatsoever BECAUSE the community of AS experts in the country is small itself AND modalities and methods were built with BOYS in mind. Literally NO consideration that such a condition could/would impact females twice as hard, merely from being LEFT OUT of ALL existing processes available to detect and diagnose autism in women and girls. The very community that defines itself as experts in Autism is FAILING WOMEN AND GIRLS WITH AUTISM and when they ARE considered, it's often done with incorrect and sexist language (eg "female brains" are not actually a thing, but this idea still gets passed around to our detriment and REINFORCES misogyny in medicine. Racism and homophobia are also prevalent given the myth that Asperger's is a white male diagnosis only, nevermind that does nothing positive for men and boys on the spectrum either but single them out.
If you're going to talk about women with Autism but not even give ten minutes from the autistic person's experiences relayed from THEIR pov, then much of what you hope to achieve, won't be because the misunderstanding, objectification of people with autism, and exclusion will only continue and change come at snails pace. For the CURRENT group of women and girls struggling to find recognition of their condition and useful supports in their communities, they are CURRENTLY left with NOTHING being available at all.
You are right.
Neurodevelopmental differences* there I fixed it
This is really interesting
Is it possible to do follow up studies to figure out if camoflaguing and masking would count as a restricted interest?
I think if it was shown as being that, that would create value in asking and testing for it more often in clinical settings.
AT THE DiSCREPANCY METHOD-THE FEMALES REGISTERING AND PERCEIVING THEIR FEELING AUTISTIC AND AUTISTIC FEATURES IN CONTRAST TO MALES AS WELL AS THEIR CAMO SCORES IS VERY INDICATIVE TO ME OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE SEXUAL BRAINS (NEUROLOGY) WITH OUR SENSE OF PROPRIOCEPTION, AND IN AN ORGANIC PHYSIOLOGICAL WAY, WHICH IS VERY FASCINATING TO ME AND RELEVANT
Hi i think im on the spectrum and found that kabbalah relay helped me be more mindful
has there been a study on this subject ?
The audio on this is so bad though :(
I long to understand my autistic brain
@accraterminalagency6507 dr snake oyalo you mean
Though masking/ camouflage is one way to describe it, and it is not wrong. I believe a stronger more accurate way of describing it would be etiquette. Females have a high demand for following proper etiquette. It’s as if we’re Geisha’s in Japan. You are not a Geisha unless you behave a certain way / girls don’t behave a certain way.
Boys are given a lot more freedom to behave in ways that would be socially acceptable in all aspects of their lives, for example, a teenage boy with a girlfriend is applauded/ celebrated especially if he’s had a number of gfs. A teenage girl for the exact same behaviour is shamed for being morally reprehensible etc.
So of course these expectations, especially of some autistic individuals who are highly sensitive/ aware and have very deep feelings will oblige by the social expectations.
It’s no different than a lawyer wearing a suit in court, we all know he/she doesn’t wear a suit in their leisure time. Another example is, a Bride wearing a white gown at her wedding, we know its for the event. None of these people are masking or camouflaging. They are simply dressing/ behaving for the occasion. Same concept for autistic women in society.
I would like to say "differences," not "disabilities."
No profit for big pharma in differences
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