What do you think?
Rate this book
Under the Radar: An Essential Guide to Autism and Girls
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of autism? Often, it's a boy who struggles with friendships, but who loves trains and is great at maths. While this may reflect the experiences of some autistic people, in recent years research and first-hand accounts have shown that many others don't conform to this image. The historical perception of autism as a "male condition" as well as simplistic stereotypes have led to an under-identification of autism in some girls and women - and, indeed, in all people, regardless of gender, who do not fit this mould.
This straightforward, one-stop guide introduces you to the differing presentations of autism that are common in girls, but also explores why referring to 'male' and 'female' autism is too reductive. Describing why some autistic girls' needs are identified late or not at all, looking at friendships and relationships, education, mental health and puberty, this concise, easy-to-understand and informative book draws on both lived experience and research to offer a popular science overview of this important topic.
This straightforward, one-stop guide introduces you to the differing presentations of autism that are common in girls, but also explores why referring to 'male' and 'female' autism is too reductive. Describing why some autistic girls' needs are identified late or not at all, looking at friendships and relationships, education, mental health and puberty, this concise, easy-to-understand and informative book draws on both lived experience and research to offer a popular science overview of this important topic.
139 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 18, 2024
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 21, 2025
Seemed insightful for autistic girls. I had expected more for autistic women though.
July 30, 2024
A really accessible and informative overview of the experiences of girls with autism in childhood and beyond. The inclusion of first person accounts, partnered with research and statistics, gave a really comprehensive picture. Valuable in the context of male-dominated research too. I definitely learned a lot!
January 1, 2025
Valuable and essential read, not only for someone who is on the spectrum themselves, but also as a professional working within the field of mental health.
April 17, 2025
This is a very insightful book - it's a guide to autism and girls specifically, but it explains very well why it's not helpful to think about "male" and "female" autism. It's an invaluable resource and essential reading for anyone, but particularly professionals, parents, relatives and friends of autistic girls. I learnt a lot from it - it digests a lot of cutting-edge research on topics like autistic girls' mental health, friendships, emotional needs, school work and lots more. It also does a great job of challenging some of the language we use unreflectively in daily life that can end up stigmatising autistic girls, such as:
"calling a child who is not attending school because of debilitating anxiety a ‘school refuser’ is not too dissimilar to calling a person with an injured leg a ‘marathon refuser’ – it is inaccurate and wrongly emphasizes a perceived choice that is simply not there at that moment in time."
I particularly liked how clear and concise the writing was - every paragraph is packed with valuable insights, nothing feels padded, and I managed to read the whole book in a couple of days. I've underlined bits that resonated with me on pretty much every page. Another quote that really stood out to me and I think summarises the book's goals really well:
"We cannot fully understand autistic girls’ and, indeed, autistic people’s needs, unless we take a ‘whole person’ approach to both recognizing their strengths, difficulties and differences, and supporting them. This task can be complicated immensely by a combination of a lack of awareness, overstretched services that don’t always ‘talk to each other’ and perhaps even a tendency to look for simple answers to complicated questions and supposedly cost-effective ‘one size fits all’ interventions. We all need to do better than that. We need to be much more proactive, rather than reactive, in identifying when we don’t know or understand enough about what a child or a young person’s needs are, and in positioning autistic people’s voices at the centre of any plan, strategy or intervention."
"calling a child who is not attending school because of debilitating anxiety a ‘school refuser’ is not too dissimilar to calling a person with an injured leg a ‘marathon refuser’ – it is inaccurate and wrongly emphasizes a perceived choice that is simply not there at that moment in time."
I particularly liked how clear and concise the writing was - every paragraph is packed with valuable insights, nothing feels padded, and I managed to read the whole book in a couple of days. I've underlined bits that resonated with me on pretty much every page. Another quote that really stood out to me and I think summarises the book's goals really well:
"We cannot fully understand autistic girls’ and, indeed, autistic people’s needs, unless we take a ‘whole person’ approach to both recognizing their strengths, difficulties and differences, and supporting them. This task can be complicated immensely by a combination of a lack of awareness, overstretched services that don’t always ‘talk to each other’ and perhaps even a tendency to look for simple answers to complicated questions and supposedly cost-effective ‘one size fits all’ interventions. We all need to do better than that. We need to be much more proactive, rather than reactive, in identifying when we don’t know or understand enough about what a child or a young person’s needs are, and in positioning autistic people’s voices at the centre of any plan, strategy or intervention."
April 25, 2026
That was a good read! I found a lot of the anecdotes to be exact experiences, or close enough to what I’ve experienced along the way.
Parenting advice wise, the part that stood out to me is how important it is to not assume autistic kids and teens are “rejecting” things to be difficult—they’re genuinely having a hard time and need different support to be able to adapt at all. I feel like I was never believed and it made me feel gaslit a lot!
Was also frequently mistaken as anorexic because of my anxiety-based / sensory overload food stuff, too.
Like most books I read about autism in women and girls, I wish I’d been able to read this much earlier in life. But I’m glad it exists now.
It was a little less science than I expected, more heavy on the anecdotes. But it’s a framework I still find incredibly valuable, if only to feel validated that I am not alone. And as the author notes, there has been precious little study of autism outside of its presentation in young white males. We don’t have enough sources available! I hope books like these will encourage the study more. I’m grateful to the people who were willing to share their experiences and the author to collect and publish them.
Parenting advice wise, the part that stood out to me is how important it is to not assume autistic kids and teens are “rejecting” things to be difficult—they’re genuinely having a hard time and need different support to be able to adapt at all. I feel like I was never believed and it made me feel gaslit a lot!
Was also frequently mistaken as anorexic because of my anxiety-based / sensory overload food stuff, too.
Like most books I read about autism in women and girls, I wish I’d been able to read this much earlier in life. But I’m glad it exists now.
It was a little less science than I expected, more heavy on the anecdotes. But it’s a framework I still find incredibly valuable, if only to feel validated that I am not alone. And as the author notes, there has been precious little study of autism outside of its presentation in young white males. We don’t have enough sources available! I hope books like these will encourage the study more. I’m grateful to the people who were willing to share their experiences and the author to collect and publish them.
March 18, 2026
This helped to put a lot of my experiences into perspective. I felt SEEN and HEARD in a way that not many autistic representations in media make me feel.
As a disclaimer, the title is a bit misleading; this book focuses on autistic pre-teen and teen experiences (from 9-16 year olds, I'd say) and not really on autistic, adult women. That said, if you want your childhood/youth experiences validated or to get more information for what life is like to autistic teen girls, this is a quick read with lots of information.
As a disclaimer, the title is a bit misleading; this book focuses on autistic pre-teen and teen experiences (from 9-16 year olds, I'd say) and not really on autistic, adult women. That said, if you want your childhood/youth experiences validated or to get more information for what life is like to autistic teen girls, this is a quick read with lots of information.
September 11, 2024
A relatively thorough look at how autism can present in girls. The book has a fairly academic perspective of little use to me personally, but should be valuable for adults who spend time around children. An interesting read, and though this is a book I wish adults around me had read when I was young, ultimately it wasn't particularly useful to me now.
July 12, 2025
A bit repetitive throughout but generally a good primer with good info.
July 13, 2025
A lot of info packed into a fairly short book. Very useful for better understanding autism in girls/women and gender biases related to autism diagnoses and criteria.
December 9, 2025
4.5
“Questions about what neurotypical people may need to do to adapt to a diverse society where not everyone shares their neurotype are rarely, if ever, raised.”
‘Under the Radar’ explores many aspects of life such as school, health care, relationships etc. and how these are experienced differently by autistic girls. I found the primary school/high school sections of this book particularly interesting and I learnt a lot from these chapters.
Despite the realistic statistics the overall tone of the book is optimistic and person centred which I enjoyed. Dr Misheva emphasises the importance of the individualistic approach when reflecting on the autistic experience as well as the harm faced by autistic girls due to the stereotypical presentation of autism (male/white).
The text is clear, easy and features figures and case studies to aid understanding. The book also includes personal reflections from autistic women and non-binary people throughout the various chapters.
I would recommend this short book to anyone looking for an introduction to autism (experience/presentation) in young girls.
I look forward to reading more of Dr Emilia Misheva’s work in the future.
“While many autistic girls without language and learning needs need support too, their needs are often more subtle, making them less easy to spot, until they have reached a crisis point”
“Questions about what neurotypical people may need to do to adapt to a diverse society where not everyone shares their neurotype are rarely, if ever, raised.”
‘Under the Radar’ explores many aspects of life such as school, health care, relationships etc. and how these are experienced differently by autistic girls. I found the primary school/high school sections of this book particularly interesting and I learnt a lot from these chapters.
Despite the realistic statistics the overall tone of the book is optimistic and person centred which I enjoyed. Dr Misheva emphasises the importance of the individualistic approach when reflecting on the autistic experience as well as the harm faced by autistic girls due to the stereotypical presentation of autism (male/white).
The text is clear, easy and features figures and case studies to aid understanding. The book also includes personal reflections from autistic women and non-binary people throughout the various chapters.
I would recommend this short book to anyone looking for an introduction to autism (experience/presentation) in young girls.
I look forward to reading more of Dr Emilia Misheva’s work in the future.
“While many autistic girls without language and learning needs need support too, their needs are often more subtle, making them less easy to spot, until they have reached a crisis point”
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews