ABSTRACT
As young girls, struggling to make sense of an alien world, some autistic girls look to the peer who seems to be doing everything right – having it all – and feel the best way to survive is to emulate her. Many girls are missed or misdiagnosed due to lack of understanding and misguided information. For many girls and women, the right diagnosis is the starting point to understanding themselves, undoing years of an abused and damaged sense of self and unpicking the potential consequent mental health conditions that have come with that. Through into adulthood, there is a perception of perfectionism, which can lead to high level and chronic stress, additional mental and physical health concerns, and again the reduction of knowing one’s self while striving to be ‘perfect’ according to socially dictated norms. Autistic females are trying to adhere to social expectations placed upon them, often without fully understanding their own self and neurological make-up.
