Autism and Girls: World-Renowned Experts Join Those with Autism to Resolve Issues That Girls and Women Face Every Day!

by Tony Attwood, Teresa Bolick, Catherine Faherty

Autism and Girls is a revised and updated edition of the bestselling book, Asperger’s and Girls. This groundbreaking book describes the unique challenges of women and girls with autism spectrum disorder. In it, you’ll read candid stories written by the indomitable women who have lived them and hear experts discuss whether ASD girls are slipping under the radar and remaining undiagnosed. This second edition provides practical solutions schools can implement and social tips for teenage girls navigating puberty, the transition to work or university, and highlights the importance of and strategies for careers.

Winner of the Gold Award, Foreword Book of the Year.

Genres: Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Nonfiction, Psychology, Mental Health

234 pages, Paperback

Published August 2, 2019

About the author

Tony Attwood is an English psychologist who lives in Queensland, Australia and is an author of several books on Asperger's Syndrome. He received an honours degree in psychology from the University of Hull, an M.A. in clinical psychology from the University of Surrey, and a Ph.D. from University College London under Uta Frith. His book, Asperger's Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals, provides information on diagnosis, problems of social relations, sensory issues, motor control and other typical issues which face people with Asperger's and their support networks. The book has now been translated into 20 languages. Attwood also has a clinical practice at his diagnostic and treatment clinic for children and adults with Asperger’s Syndrome, in Brisbane, begun in 1992.

Reviews

[Graham Vingoe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review is of a book which was offered free and unsolicitated by the Publisher via Netgalley and is not unduly influenced in any way by them.
Disclaimer: I am a parent of a teenage daughter with Autism but in addition to other issues which may also affect her development
As a parent of an autistic girl myself, this title was an automatic draw for me as I’m aware from the screening process and personal experience that autism and related syndromes amongst girls are seen as increasingly prevalent but almost criminally unrecognised amongst educators, the medical fraternity and society which views autism as a primarily “male-only” phenomenon. So, on this basis I was hoping for a good overview of the issues affecting girls with Autism, and some good advice for helping them cope with life. Overall, I do not feel this book has met those expectations.
The initial chapter by Tony Attwood and Michelle Garnett was excellent giving a brief run-through of the fact that girls use specific techniques to camouflage autism in order to cope with social and interpersonal norms, and how they adapt to these throughout the various stages of their childhood through to adulthood. The outing of Hermione Granger as a potential autistic person was an interesting surprise and one I would personally not have thought of! The chapter doesn’t necessarily tell me anything new but summarised things nicely.
Catherine Faherty’s chapter points out the scary reality that many autistic girls and women are particularly vulnerable to sexual and physical abuse but lack the tools to be able to communicate this. Whilst I think this does need to be pointed out I feel the placement of the chapter itself sdo early in a book which may be used by parents of newly diagnosed autistic girls is unfortunate and could lead to unnecessary worry by many parents. Placing it later in the book when the needs and characteristics of autistic girls are clearer may have helped ease some unnecessary concerns. The fact that Faherty then goes on to outline a specific communication tool ( communication forms) in great detail with example questions, may also reinforce those worries, and is also much better suited to a publication aimed at educators and practitioners rather than one for public consumption.
Sheila Wagner writes her chapter from the POV of an educator and it is aimed quite specifically at the situation in American schools as opposed to the UK. Not being an expert in the field, I assume that the lessons learnt are transferrable to our system and her suggestions are clear and concise. I did particularly like the suggested descriptive statements designed to help autistic students to define the various stages of relationships from strangers through to life partners with one proviso- it does skip from best friends to life partners without detailing what you could define as a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, or even casual sexual relationships. It is one of the stronger chapters in the book, however so this is a comparatively small oversight in the overall book.
Lisa Iland is a practitioner with experience in developing individualised programmes aimed at supporting autistic people to navigate the world of relationships, employment and social inclusion by reducing barriers. Much of her work has come from direct communication with autistic people of both sexes including her own brother. She sets out her stall early in her chapter that her aim is to provide advice and information aimed at professional’s, parents and young people with autism and she succeeds with a very general approach- making it clear that social relationships are complicated for everyone including so-called neurotypical people. She concentrates on advice rather than hard advocacy or specific suggested solutions, and this makes the advice much more universal than Flaherty’s chapter did. She also outlines a relationship hierarchy that typical teens experience, which is simpler and much more tailored towards young people themselves than Sheila Wagner's earlier version. What follows is a relatively detailed look at various aspects of relationships in general and friendships. Some reviewers felt that this chapter tries to teach autistic girls to confirm with high school norms and expected behaviours rather than treat them as individuals. I personally didn’t feel this was necessarily the case but in the interest of fairness point this out so that you can treat with caution as appropriate.
Next up, Mary Wrobel deals with the issues surrounding puberty and autism. It's very detailed and comprehensive – perhaps a little bit too forceful in tone rather than encouraging – telling parents that autistic girls must be instructed to tell trusted adults when they are being physically bullied, which (as Flaherty’s chapter says) is something that is completely alien to many and extremely difficult to do if that person doesn’t understand where the problem is. Overall the chapter felt too heavy-handed and badgering in tone for me so works against the goal of helping to deal with the issues surrounding puberty. Rather off-putting to say the least.
By this point it is unfortunately very clear to me that the book does not work as a cohesive whole and really lacks any common viewpoint- You have writers suggesting that autistic girls need to essentially mimic neurotypical girls in order to function in society but other writers suggesting that they can have meaningful relationships only if they embrace their individuality and go against the norm. It also doesn't seem to be clear on who the audience is for this book- is it practitioners in schools and education, parents or autistic girls themselves? It also is badly organised and that could have detrimental affects on people who have just been diagnosed with the condition.
From my perspective, it's a real shame that this title is so disappointing considering how little-known it is that girls with autism are a lot more common than has initially been thought due to their ability to mask the condition effectively, and there is relatively little in the way of information and guidance open to parents of girls with autism designed to help them get to grips with the effects that can result from late diagnosis. I appreciate the aim of the book to be a general guide but the execution lets it down a lot.

[Chris Geary-Durrill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out useful, but by the time I reached the long, meandering, at times pointless seeming personal journey of a woman with autism trying to raise children with autism saying things that could have been said in about two pages, I walked away feeling like this was a rather "meh" book with "Autism Lite" as my overall impression.

[Jen Tidman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This title is more directed at young and teenage girls and/or their parents, or psychologists and educators, but still has content that can be of interest to adult women on the autistic spectrum. There are many well-known authors from the field here, who cover a good variety of topics including adaptations to autism, camouflaging/masking, psychological effects, asking for help, education, friendships, bullying, puberty, dating, relationships, motherhood, celibacy and careers. A great collection of chapters that should be widely read.

Thanks for Netgalley and Future Horizons for the advanced digital copy in return for an honest and unbiased review.

[Carson hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some suggestions may cause a meltdown or worse

This is just my opinion but i felt some of these suggestions to parents were not good. It almost seemed that one of the authors was telling parents to be to firm when it comes to fitting in and having friends.

[Brenda Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s not often I read a non-fiction book cover to cover in 24 hours, but this one I did! This is an extremely interesting book with chapters written by real people and their knowledge of autism, especially autistic girls. Many contributors are autistic themselves and speak from first-hand experience. It even helped me to understand autistic boys better. We owe it to ourselves to understand people who are different from most of us and to understand that in some ways, they are even better than the majority of us!

[heathersbookaddiction · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book thru Audible and felt it was appropriate with Emmerson’s new Autism dx.

Wow this book was so eye opening and made me understand Emmerson a lot better. I knew what I thought was lots about Autism but clearly not.

This book was more for preteen/teen/adult girls. Somethings make me worry for the future and other things make me excited for the future.

It’s interesting how boys are dx much sooner than girls.

[Kim Hampton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose to pick up this book because I've always believed that my oldest daughter might be autistic, and we both love Temple Grandin, but I surprised myself by discovering that I am most probably on the spectrum also! So many things in this book fit both of us, and it explains so many things. I highly recommend it to everyone that works with or is raising girls.

[Joelle.P.S]

Jennifer McIlwee Myers chpt = AWESOME

[Bookwormbadger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Future Horizons for this book. Although primarily written for those caring for / teaching autistic girls / teenage girls, this book also has some useful and interesting insights and advice for adults with ASD. It is easy to read and definitely worth a read for anyone who either is an autistic female, lives with one, parents one, teaches one and so on.

[Becki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains stand-alone chapters written by several authors who have studied and worked in the study of autism- many of whom are autistic themselves. Some chapters read more like clinical briefs, some authors shared narrations of life experiences. The chapters are not cohesive with each other, but each one held specific value. Nearly all chapters focused on how best to help and support females with autism- particularly in middle school/high school/young adult years.

I was particularly shocked (and dismayed) by a statistic shared multiple times in this book- "The incidence of sexual molestation for girls with special needs, including ASD, is 80% before the age of eighteen." Because of that factor, a large goal of the book is to aid parents, teachers and caregivers in helping autistic girls to learn social cues about appropriate sexual behavior and about how to ask for help. The book also address issues such as menstruation hygiene, developing friendships with other girls, romantic relationships, launching into adulthood, etc.

There are nine chapters in this book- eight of them were very good. I did feel like one of the chapters was somewhat scattered, but there was value in that chapter, as well. 4 stars.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Many thanks to the publisher and the authors for this opportunity. #NetGalley #AutismAndGirls

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn't what I expected at all. I'd hoped for more insight on how autism manifests in girls and women throughout the various stages of their lives. Although I think this book is designed to help parents of girls with autism, I found a lot of the advice very unhelpful, essentially telling a girl with autism how to 'fit in', rather than accept herself as she is. This is with the exception of the chapter written by Jennifer McIlwee Myers, who gave a good account of why girls and women with autism may find dating difficult.

The chapter on 'Maternal Instincts and Autism' seemed only to talk about the writer's personal challenges, rather than addressing how autism may affect motherhood more generally. The book as a whole also failed to address some of the acknowledged issues around girls, women and non-binary folk with autism, namely gender dysphoria and eating disorders.

Interestingly, I've seen reviews of the first edition of this book which raise some of the same points as I have. On the whole I wouldn't recommend this book. While there may still be a dearth of literature on this topic, it needs to be addressed thoroughly and not given lip service. This was an opportunity to fully update the book on the progress that has been made over the past ten years and unfortunately I feel that didn't happen here.

[Em (Makenna) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an arc of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I can't say I liked this one. I think some of it could have been revised to say ''many but not all'' as in ''all aspies need a lot of alone time after social situations.'' that is not true for everyone. A couple of other things made me not really care for this book.