The Guardian reports on a new study discovering that girls with autism are more likely to be diagnosed later than boys, due to the fact that they “adept at camouflaging their behavior” in order to fit in with their peers.

According to the study published on the issue, the ratio of boys diagnosed with autism is four times higher than in the case of girls, pointing to the gap between diagnosing girls and boys due to the tendency of girls to hide the traits of their autistic behavior.

The study, involving universities of Southampton, London and Liverpool and autistic and non-autistic participants as well, scrutinized social reciprocal behavior including interactive drawing tasks with researchers and participants taking turns and contributing to the outcome of the task, a drawing, together, while reciprocal behavior was awarded. The results have shown that among females the scores almost matched for both groups, while a significant difference was visible among male participants.

It has been stated that “better awareness of camouflaging could lead to increased support for those who might otherwise miss out” and it is extremely important that the increased awareness brings about accessible assistance so early intervention can be established and maintained. 

Camouflaging not only means that girls get to be diagnosed later, but also maintaining it is stressful and requires a lot of effort, which can have even more harmful consequences in the future. 

The need for raising awareness and paying more attention to girls and young women has been around for quite some time, nonetheless, scientists and advocates for autism highlight the urge to face the situation and break down the walls around stereotypes between genders dealing with autism. 

Source
Countries this relates to

Childhub

You might like..

0
39
Around two-thirds of all child sexual abuse is committed by a family member. A new report shows that sexually abused children and their cases are hidden from view because of a lack of knowledge and support from local authorities, agencies and…
0
24
'Just because a child is in their bedroom, it does not necessarily mean they are safe.' — Susie Hargreaves, chief executive of the Internet Watch Foundation. Children in bedrooms with a camera-enabled device and internet access are highly…
0
7
A campaign group in the UK, Pregnant then Screwed, recently published a study claiming every fifth of parents is forced to quit their jobs due to the high childcare costs and 62% of the respondents are forced to work in part-time (1800 parents were…
0
2
A survey by the Ambitious about Autism, which was conducted between September and November in 2019, shows that 46% of parents waited longer than 18 months for a formal autism diagnosis. In UK the process is the following: a GP (family doctor)…
0
13
During the pandemic, Childline services gives children and young people who are anxious about the coronavirus a safe environment in which to speak and be listened to, and to get support. Childline delivers counselling sessions and has…
0
1
There is a strong link between a harmful childhood and physical and mental health. The negative effects of abuse and neglect can somewhat be reversed if children receive secure, loving care in a stable home environment. The Best…
0
2
‘Innovative Programme’, funded by the British government is designed to help support families where children are at risk of going into care because of their parents’ problems with mental health, domestic violence or addiction. The program aims to…
0
4
Two schools in the United Kingdom have begun using body cameras in efforts to improve children’s behaviour and to address violence. One of the schools, in Hampshire, started using cameras to deal with unknown children entering the school…
0
3
BBC reports that doctors have sought to reassure parents that there has not been an increase in the severity of Covid-19 cases among children because of the new variant. This response comes after reports were made live on BBC Radio 5 of a…
0
11
During the pandemic, children hit strongly by Covid-19 have regressed.  According to the Ofsted schools watchdog, the consequences are the following: there are some, who were potty-trained already before the lockdown, but no reverted to…
0
13
The #Chances4Children campaign, launched by Children and Young People Now, aims to create a platform where practitioners, teams and leaders are able to share their experiences and innovative ideas about working with children and young people.…
0
2
The Guardian reports on the possible dangerous situations caused by end-to-end encryption, a technology that makes it impossible to keep track of content sharing and increasing potential cases of abuse, because the shared content would only be…
0
27
The number of referrals from the NSPCC about child abuse has increased by 79% since the UK-wide lockdown was imposed, according to the charity's data. Calls to its helpline resulted in 923 referrals to police and social services between April and…
0
10
It was found that COVID pandemic has affected negatively on vulnerable children growing in troubled families. Some families had troubles with poverty, health services or housing even before the pandemic but with the lockdown, the problems got worse…
0
10
"The Lancet " the British medical journal published a report on pediatric pain. A commission of specialists tested the individuals who deal with children to end what they depicted as the basic under treatment of torment in children,…