Behind the Mask: Autism for Women and Girls | Kate Kahle | TEDxAustinCollege

Hey guys, as a young woman I've had some great opportunities, one of which I'm most proud of is having my art displayed at the dma before I turned 17. When I was in the auditorium with all the other young artists being honored. Because of our achievements I couldn't think about how proud I was of myself the only thing I could think about was the velvet upholstery of the chairs touching the back of my arms and legs for me the feeling of touching the velvet is unbearable, You might be thinking that I don't like certain textures either, but there's more to this story that you should know.

I'm Kate Kale. I am 20 years old and I am autistic. When I was a freshman in high school, my family noticed that I was having difficulty connecting. My peers had also developed severe anxiety and it manifested itself in unexpected ways. I had always had autistic traits and struggles, but I thought it was weird. My parents took me for an evaluation where we learned I was autistic. We were all in shock because I am not what people would normally consider an autistic person. Autism is diagnosed when social expectations about neurotypical behavior begin to outweigh the person's ability to perform those behaviors.

Autism spectrum disorder or ASD is a permanent developmental disability that can cause deficits in social communication. interaction emotional awareness and can cause sensory problems among other symptoms, the reason it lasts a lifetime is that

autism

is not a disease and cannot be cured, it is a neurodivergence, which means that the autistic brain functions in a different way. different from the neurotypical brain, no one is sure why. Some people have

autism

, one of the criteria for diagnosis is that the symptoms must be present from birth or early childhood, meaning it is not caused by poor diet, poor parental vaccinations, and it is not contagious.

Evidence has shown that autism can be transmitted genetically, meaning it can be hereditary. I have found that many neurotypical people and even some autistic people struggle with the concept of the autism spectrum. This is partly because I think it has a bad name, but also partly because the way experts and researchers think about autism is changing everything. At the time most research was done in the past, autism had three categories: mild, moderate and severe. Later, it was thought of more as a continuum like this, from high functioning to low functioning, and high functioning is also called Asperger's syndrome.

You might think that as long as a person experiences the same symptoms, what you call their disorder doesn't matter, here's why I don't prefer the term asperger's syndrome. Han's Asperger was a doctor and one of the first researchers on autistic children whom he called autistic psychopaths. He was also a Nazi he believed. he into eugenics and sent many of the children he worked with to the Third Reich's child sterilization and euthanasia programs, even though they were not the Nazis' primary targets. Autistic people were considered a threat to the third correct goal of a genetically pure society when people used the term Asperger's. syndrome, they are unknowingly reinforcing the idea that autistic people have no value to society, which is why I prefer my disorder to be called autism spectrum disorder or autism instead of Asperger's syndrome.

Nowadays, the spectrum is considered more like that. This shows some of the struggles that autistic people can have and the varying degrees to which each person can struggle with those particular issues. Autism can have many symptoms and can vary widely from person to person. Some symptoms you might think of when you think about autism are difficulties making eye contact. poor communication, sensory issues, and obsession with special interests, but there are also many other symptoms that you may have never thought about before, such as intense emotions, too much eye contact, or overly effective empathy. Many of these less common symptoms are more common in Women and

girls

with autism here you can see a spectrum that I filled out to reflect my experiences.

As you can see, I have a lot of sensory issues with textures and sounds. I focus a lot on my special interests and have very effective empathy that allows me to easily communicate with others after the initial shock of my diagnosis it started to make a lot of sense. I finally realized why I had struggled to pick up on other people's negative emotions, like when they are sad or frustrated, this affected my relationships for the first time. 15 years of my life I am very grateful for my diagnosis because it allowed me to understand and accept myself and I was very lucky to receive it for every four children diagnosed with autism only one girl is diagnosed studies that have followed children from birth show that the natural proportion of men and

women

with autism is closer to three to one;

The discrepancy between this diagnosis rate and the actual rate of autism among men and

women

is likely due to the way autism has been defined and studied and the tests used to diagnose. If the tests used to diagnose autism are still based on studies done on white autistic children, likely leading to lower and misdiagnoses in women, I would like to add that this is not just a problem for women but for minorities as well. White children are 19 percent more likely than Black children and 65 percent more likely than Hispanic children to receive an autism diagnosis. Men who appear to show mild symptoms of autism are diagnosed on average two years earlier than women who show similar symptoms.

This could be because female special interests are generally more socially accepted than male ones. special interests when non-autistic people think about autism special interests what usually comes to mind are trains. I never had any interest in trains as a child. My special interest was not insects. The people in my life saw this as. only a healthy interest in science and it was never marked as an autistic trait, while my special interests were an autistic trait that was largely ignored. My other autistic traits were hidden because I was skilled at

mask

ing them. Masking is a behavior through which autistic people try to camouflage themselves and appear not to be autistic.

When hearing this for the first time, neurotypical people might think that autistic people are insecure or manipulative for trying to hide our symptoms. That's not true. The real reason an autistic person would

mask

is for es. Due to a natural human desire to fit in, connect with others, and achieve social and professional success, masking behaviors can include forcing eye contact, imitating others' behaviors, expressions and gestures, and even memorizing scripts for small talk and conversations. common, some people are more skilled at masking than others. I'm very good at masking and people tell me that all the time, whether they know it or not, when someone tells me that they would never have known I was autistic if I hadn't told them or even that I don't look autistic. autistic what they are really telling me is that I am good at masking many people see this as something really positive, it is something that allows me to live a normal life and while it is true that some things can be easier when people can not say that you are autistic.

It is impossible for a person with ASD not to be greatly affected. Autism is part of us. It influences the way we think, interact with others and see the world throughout our lives. This is not something that can be disabled by masking, it is simply pushed down to a level below which other people can see it, this reduction of our true self takes a lot of work, think about this when you are in conversation with someone who is doing . many things at once you have the right posture you are at the right distance from them you are using the right facial expressions you are modulating your tone you may be making gestures you are making the right amount of eye contact no you don't look them in the eye, but you don't look at them So much so that it's scary and you're predicting what the other person is going to say and do next.

For neurotypical people, all these things come naturally to you. The kids don't even have to think about them, but I have to think about all those things at once over the years. I have learned to juggle all of these things, but it is a herculean task and for some its complexity makes it impossible. Difficulty masking can often lead to secondary mental health problems. Depression can come from working so hard and still not being accepted, while anxiety can come from the stress of having to wear a mask for a good part of the day, every day for a good part of the time. her life or risk being discriminated against and excluded.

These secondary mental health challenges are a particular problem for women and

girls

in their teens and older. 34 of the women with autism have depression and 36 have anxiety. Recent studies have also shown a link between eating disorders and women with autism, while these secondary mental health problems are a big problem, the biggest problem in masking the causes of autistic people is late and misdiagnoses, if someone is really good at masking, they may never be diagnosed. Men and boys are the groups considered least skilled at masking. and they are also the groups most frequently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

Case studies show that women are more adept at masking and this is likely a huge contributing factor to their late and misdiagnoses. The sooner a person is diagnosed with autism, the sooner they can receive it. specialized care and treatment that can help them in almost every aspect of their life, care for autistic people is getting better and better as more research is done, but unfortunately it is rare to find a therapist or other people helping autistic people who recognize the additional challenges that come with being a woman when you struggle socially as a woman, learning to succeed socially as a man is simply not enough.

Being a woman is a unique and challenging experience on its own. The rules of female friendship. How to talk about menstruation romantic and even how to stay. safe from sexual predators are all the obstacles that autistic women face but for which they receive no support, although in our society it is tempting to say that gender is something small, obsolete or insignificant, the truth is that gender does matter and when it comes to autism, it matters a lot The way the autistic brain works is the same in both men and women, the difference arises when, due to the great disconnect between the lived experiences of men and women, all autistic people are born autistic, but from birth girls are pushed into a more socially rigorous environment that increases. the pressure to mask and the challenges that an autistic person faces on a daily basis for any autistic person, but especially for women and girls, the part of their autism that can be seen is not what that person is actually experiencing, it is impossible for someone with a limited outside perspective will label someone else's. autism, whether labeled as high functioning mild moderate Asperger's or any other label, you can see me here right now talking to you and try to label me to differentiate me in your mind from another autistic person you've met, like maybe a little boy who has a sensory breakdown at the mall you can try to label me in your mind to tell us apart but the feelings we have inside are probably more similar than you think.

I just learned to mask them after years of pressure and In practice, this is partly because what society expects of an adult woman is different from what they expect of a young child, which is reasonable, but society He also expects more from a girl than from a boy from an early age. Girls are expected to have higher emotional intelligence. and worry more about their peers' emotions than children do, this is reinforced in almost every aspect of their lives, from television shows and toys to the words and actions of family and teachers. Women know how to mask better because society expects more from us and that doesn't make the With so many concessions for us, sometimes society will make exceptions for the social deficits of autistic men in exchange for the knowledge and perspective they can bring, but it won't. the same with autistic women.

I want you to stay away from this. audience knowing that autism is not a disease and does not need to be cured, it is simply a different way that some brains can function. If you want to help autistic people, you can support organizations like autistics for autistics, autistic self-advocacy network and autistic women and non-binary network that supports self-love andautistic acceptance as opposed to organizations that spread fear about autism. You should also identify as an autistic advocate for the people in your life. Be understanding and allow your friends and family to unmask you. This is also a call to action for the psychology community to do more research on autism in women, people of color and other minorities, above all I want them to know that every person with autism is different.

I came here today to share my perspective because I am not what many people would consider an autistic person, but that does not mean that all women with autism will have the same or even a similar experience to mine. My journey into autism is just one of thousands that can provide insight into the journey. Autistic people plan to interact with our society and see the world thanks.