How many women are still unaware of autism? This question is at the heart of the concerns of the Francophone Association of Autistic Women (AFFA) while on July 6, Emmanuel Macron announced the launch of the consultation on the fourth autism plan, expected early 2018.
Their concern is based on several academic studies, the results of which show that it is more difficult to detect this neurodevelopmental disorder in women.
Unlike men, they would be able to hide more easily their autistic behaviors.
A mimicry of "normal" social behavior
It is by camouflaging their difficulties by imitating social behavior that they succeed in letting a certain "normality" emerge.
Asked by 'France Inter', Marie Rabatel, president of the AFFA and autistic Asperger, confirms: "I do not know if we better understand the codes but we understood that we have to copy the others to be adapted, we He understands that when someone smiles at us, we have to smile at him, but it's not a real smile, we do it because we've learned it, that's my case. "
"Studies show that the communication and language skills of girls would be better than those of boys," says a woman suffering from Aperger's Syndrome, a specialist in the specificities of high-level autistic women, in an interview with the newspaper 'La Croix .
Queens in the art of concealment, they manage to tie friendships and their centers of interest, often very "intense" in boys, go unnoticed because they are considered more "ordinary".
"When a boy is going to be passionate about calendars or subway plans, they will be interested in animals, in a band, in fashion, or even in psychology," explains Pauline Duret, a researcher in cognitive neuroscience. autism at the University of Montreal, every day.
These "more discreet autists", as the neuroscientist Fabienne Cazalis calls them in an article published by The Conversation, are therefore more easily passed through the radars of doctors.
Towards Improving Screening Tools for Autism Spectrum Disorder
At the root of this delay in diagnosis: the tools used for screening tests, which are unsuitable for women.
"To diagnose Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), doctors and psychologists rely on quantitative criteria assessed using tests or questionnaires, but also qualitative criteria, such as specific areas of interest, stereotyped gestures, glances, language problems or isolation, and while girls with autism have comparable scores to boys in tests and questionnaires, the clinical presentation of their condition is different, at least in where language is acquired ", says Fabienne Cazalis
The scientist adds that "a team composed of Australian scientists Sarah Ormond, Charlotte Brownlow, Michelle Garnett, Tony Attwood, and Polish researcher Agnieszka Rynkiewicz, is currently finalizing a special questionnaire for girls, the Q-ASC (questionnaire for autism). spectrum conditions). "
Today, 9 in 10 autistics are men of "high level" in France and a ratio of one woman to four men is observed in autism "low level".
Sources:
theconversation.com/ces-femmes-autistes-qui-signorent-75998
la-croix.com/Sciences-et-ethique/Sante/Lautisme-serait-difficile-diagnostiquer-chez-filles-2017-08-01-1200866906
www.franceinter.fr/societe/les-femmes-autistes-sont-elles-sous-diagnostiquees
femmesautistesfrancophones.com/2017/07/27/camouflage-social-chez-les-adultes-ayant-une-condition-du-spectre-autistique/
