Girls and Autism: Educational, Family and Personal Perspectives

by Barry Carpenter (Editor), Francesca Happé (Editor), Jo Egerton (Editor)

Often thought of as a predominantly ‘male’ disorder, autism has long gone unidentified, unnoticed and unsupported in girls – sometimes with devastating consequences for their social and mental well-being. As current research reveals a much more balanced male-to-female ratio in autism, this book provides crucial insight into autistic girls’ experiences, helping professionals to recognize, understand, support and teach them effectively.

Drawing on the latest research findings, chapters consider why girls have historically been overlooked by traditional diagnostic approaches, identifying behaviours that may be particular to girls, and exploring the ‘camouflaging’ that can make the diagnosis of autistic girls more difficult. Chapters emphasize both the challenges and advantages of autism and take a multidisciplinary approach to encompass contributions from autistic girls and women, their family members, teachers, psychologists and other professionals. The result is an invaluable source of first-hand insights, knowledge and strategies, which will enable those living or working with girls on the autism spectrum to provide more informed and effective support.

Giving voice to the experiences, concerns, needs and hopes of girls on the autism spectrum, this much-needed text will provide parents, teachers and other professionals with essential information to help them support and teach autistic girls more effectively.

Genres: Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Psychology, Nonfiction

214 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 7, 2019

Reviews

[Caroline E · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. It's engaging, interesting and very informative. To be nit-picky, I found that some of the chapters (which all had different authors) needed a good old proof-read! And by nature of having a collection of different authors I enjoyed some more than others. Still, I would recommend this as a helpful overview to girls and autism and the surrounding academic literature.

[Islaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learnt so much about autistic females and I definitely think I am autistic so it helped me with my decision to tell my parents I think I am