Identify

• Autistic girls are more socially motivated than boys. Girls can make friends more quickly than autistic boys but may find it more difficult to maintain those friendships (Cook et al., 2024; Hiller et al., 2014; Sedgeick et al., 2016).

• Autistic girls are more likely to be able to engage in reciprocal conversation than autistic boys (Hiller et al., 2014).

• Social cognition in autistic girls appears similar to that of neurotypical girls (Harrop et al., 2020).

  • Autistic girls are often able to interpret information in social settings and use that information to adjust their own behavior.

• Autistic girls are more likely to engage in social camouflaging. (Cruz et al., 2024; Hiller et al., 2016; Hull et al., 2019; Hull et al., 2020; Lai et al., 2015; Sutherland et al., 2017; Wood-Downie et al., 2021).

Social camouflaging can be measured using the Camouflaging of Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q) (Hull et al., 2019) for adults or the Questionnaire for Autism Spectrum Conditions (Q-ASC) (Simcoe et al., 2018) for children.

What is social camouflaging?

• mimicking facial expressions, phrasing, tone, and gestures

  • you might see girls practicing facial expressions and gestures in the mirror or repeating phrases to practice tone

• making “appropriate” eye contact

  • you might see girls making too much eye contact or seeming unsure of where to look (bouncing back and forth between eyes or staring at noses or foreheads)

• intentionally talking less about their special interests

  • social stigma may lead girls to withdraw when they find themselves talking at length about a special interest

• refraining from sharing their true thoughts

  • social stigma may teach girls that their true thoughts on topics are inappropriate for the social setting or audience

• suppressing externalized stims (hand flapping, jumping, etc.)

• using scripts in conversation

  • girls may routinely use the same questions and responses in conversation

• using executive functioning to compensate for theory of mind difficulties

  • girls may find it difficult to understand others’ perspectives, so they will intentionally observe & analyze facial expressions and tone

• using working memory to think of “appropriate” conversation topics

(Cruz et al., 2024; Hiller et al., 2016; Hull et al., 2019; Hull et al., 2020; Lai et al., 2015; Sutherland et al., 2017; Wood-Downie et al., 2021).

• Restricted and repetitive interests in autistic girls are more commonly considered to be age and gender appropriate than those of autistic boys (Hiller et al., 2016; Lai et al., 2015; Sutherland et al., 2017).

• Girls interests tend to center around animals, art, music, and reading.

• Autistic girls are more likely to internalize their difficulties than boys.

  • This leads to higher rates of anxiety, depression, self-harm, and disordered eating.

• Autistic boys externalise their difficulties, showing signs of aggression and difficulty relating to others.

(Sedgewick et al., 2021) than autistic males (aggression, difficulty relating) (Cage et al., 2018; Chandler et al., 2016; Hiller et al., 2014; Hiller et al., 2016; Oswald et al., 2016)