(Aeon) – Long believed to be particularly associated with males, new research is revolutionising our understanding of autism

Almost every autism-related website, research paper or journal article tells us that autism occurs much more frequently in boys, on average about four times as often, although ratios of 15:1 have sometimes been quoted.

But suppose you were told that teachers, presented with identical vignettes of hypothetical children, are more likely to identify the child as autistic and in need of support if the child is called ‘Jack’ than if the child is called ‘Chloe’. That girls who are eventually diagnosed as autistic may wait several more years than boys to be assessed. That research shows that up to 80 per cent of autistic females may initially receive an inappropriate diagnosis – of social anxiety, or an eating disorder, or borderline personality disorder – before it is recognised that they are autistic. (Read More)