Asperger‘s Syndrome In Girls

„Asperger‘s is not a disease. It is a syndrome.“ [A syndrom is a collection of symptoms that occur together with a condition].

Social Symptoms

• Appears excessively shy or avoids interacting with others or making the first move socially.
• Seems uncomfortable during conversation and may struggle with eye contact.
• Usually only has one close friend
• May play appropriately with toys and engage in pretend play or may focus on organizing objects.
• Often shows empathy and compassion but may be confused by non-verbal social signals.
• May have difficulty fitting in with peers due to clothing and hairstyle choices.

Communication Symptoms

• Communicated differently from her peers.
• May have an exceptional vocabulary.
• Tends to mimic rather than providing natural responses
• May converse in predictable „scripted“ ways.
• Seems to struggle with non-verbal aspects of communication, such as body language and tone of voice.
• May use odd inflection.
• Appears to have difficulty dealing with unexpected verbal responses.

Behavioral Symptoms

• Less prone to act out physically or aggressively.
• Intense focus on a particular subject.
• Appears anxious when there are changes in routine.
• Practices rituals that appear to have no function.
• May play with toys well beyond the typical age.
• Appears to have attractions or aversions to sensory stimuli, such as textures, foods, sounds or visual patterns.
• May engage in limited self-stimulating behavior, such as hand flapping, rocking, spinning or shifting from foot to foot.

Physical Symptoms

• May have difficulty with fine or gross motor coordination.
• May become easily lost, even in familiar surroundings.
• Has an odd posture.
• Resists physical games or sports

First Signs Of Asperger Syndrom in Females

• As an infant may have been described as „colicky“; fussy; crying too much; not a good sleeper; sensory sensitives.
• May be very shy, quiet or mute; withdrawn/ introverted and/ or on her own in play; much less likely to receive a diagnosis.
• Facial expressions may not match the situation; may have flat or exxagerated affect.
• Despite social and emotional immaturity, intellectually bright and curious and/ or have more mature interests
• Passive or avoidance behaviors, also known as „demand avoidance“ (PDA)
• May suffer from anxiety, social anxiety, generalized anxiety
• May have hyperlexia; appear to be more curious, bright or gifted than her peers and have an advanced vocubalary.
• May be very talkative extraverted and controlling with others.
• Difficulties understanding the social hierarchy.
• May be describd as a „daydreamer“, „in her own world“, a „little philosopher“.
• Often rule bound, well behaved in school; may follow, cling to or be the „teachers pet“.
• Highly sensitive child; intense emotions and inability to self-regulate

Signs Of Asperger Syndrom In Adult Females

• High Average to genius intelligence; twice-exceptionally; learning disabilities; spikey cognitive profile; weak short-term memory and superior long-term memory; slower processing speed
• Most women are undiagnosed and/ or misdiagnosed; presenting differently than the male profile. There is no one „type“, but rather there are „subtypes“; traits vary from mild to severe.
• Facial expressions may not match the situation; may have flat, exxagerated or innappropriate affect or body language.
• May be very shy, introverted, passive, avoidant or talkative, extraverted, controlling with others; socially and emotionally immature for her age.
• Can have good eye contact and conversation skills; can make friends but challenging keeping them; difficulties understanding the social hierarchy; reading body language and social skills.
• Are often nurses, artists, singers, models, actresses, professors, dancers, teachers, lawyers, photographers, writers, musicians, work with animals or medical professionals.
• Common strengths: Performing art skills; writing; reading; animal empaths; one-on-one with people; expert level in area of interest; out of the box thinking; attention to detail, teaching
• Often high achievers, competitive, perfectionists, pedantic and rule-bound; rigid thinking; theory of mind issues; difficulty getting along with other people.
• Sensory sensitives, may have stomach issues, fibromyalgia, CFS
• Highly sensitive; intense emotions and inability to self-regulate; may have anxiety, OCD, Social amxiety, generalized anxiety, borderline personality disorder or traits, and/ or depression.

„Having Aspergers can make communication excrutiating, when you struggle to verbalize in a way that makes sense and end up with this almost permanent sensation of feeling misunderstood.“

Characteristics Of Females With Aspergers And High-Functioning Autism

Sometime during childhood, a female with AS or HFA characteristics will begin to know she is different compared to her peers.

• Due to adopting a alternative persona, she may begin to have problems of self-identity and low self-esteem
• Due to observing and analyzing social behavior and trying not to make a social error, she may become emotionally exhausted
• During the stress of adolescence, she may develop routines and rituals around food and a special interest in calories and nutrition that develops into the signs of an eating disorder
• Her interests may be different to her peers in terms of intensity and quality of play
• She may be an avid observer of human behavior and try to decipher what she is supposed to do or say
• She may be extremely sensitive to the emotional atmosphere at a social gathering
• She may be like a chameleon, changing persona according to the situation
• She may be more likely to apologize and appease when making a social error
• She may be overly well-behaved and compliant at school so as not to be noticed or recognized as different
• She may be vulnerable to “peer predators” who take advantage of her social immaturity
• She may become increasingly aware of her social confusion and frequent faux-pas, and thus prefer to be on the periphery of social situations
• She may enjoy living in a fantasy world and creating a new persona
• She may escape into the world of nature, having an intuitive understanding of animals, but not people
• She may fear that her “true self” must remain secret because she is defective, thus she is almost always acting like someone else
• She may have a pet that she views as a loyal friend
• She may have a single – but intense – friendship with another female who may provide guidance for her in social situations
• She may have a strong desire to collect and organize her toys rather than to share her toys with friends
• She may have an aversion to the traditional concept of femininity
• She may have an encyclopedic knowledge of specific topics
• She may have an intense interest in reading and escaping into fiction
• She may have an interest in ancient civilizations to find an old world in which she would feel at home
• She may have an interest in other countries where she would be accepted
• She may identify with a fictional character, who faces adversity but has special powers and friends
• She may not be interested in the latest craze among her peers to be “cool” and popular
• She may not identify with her peers
• She may not play with her toys in conventional ways
• She may not want to play cooperatively with her peers
• She may prefer non-gender specific toys
• She may prefer to play alone so that she can play her way
• She may prefer to play with males, whose play is more constructive and adventurous than emotional and conversational
• She may suffer social confusion in silence and isolation in the classroom, but she may be a different character at home
• She may talk to imaginary friends, or write fiction at an early age
• She may think that the way her peers play is stupid and boring
• She may use imaginary friends that can provide companionship, support and comfort when she feels lonely
• She may use passive-aggressive behaviors in order to control her family and/ or social experiences

Young Girls, Many (but not all) Females With AS And HFA

• Apologize frequently and want to please others
• Are an expert on certain topics
• Are determined
• Are honest
• Are involved in social play, but are led by their pers rather than initiating social contact
• Are kind
• Are misunderstood by peers
• Are more able to follow social actions by delayed imitation because they observe other kids and copy them, perhaps masking the symptoms of AS and HFA
• Are more aware of – and feel a need to – interact socially
• Are perfectionists
• Are so successful at “faking it” that they only come to the attention of a therapist when a secondary mood disorder emerges
• Are specially gifted in the areas of mathematics and engineering
• Are very good at art
• Are visual thinkers
• Are well-liked by adults
• Do not do “social chit chat” or make “meaningless” comments in order to facilitate social communication
• Enjoy solitude
• Have a faster rate of learning social skills than males
• Have a special interest that is more likely to be unusual in terms of intensity rather than focus
• Have difficulty knowing what someone else may be thinking or feeling
• Have difficulty making friends
• Have difficulty managing feelings
• Have difficulty showing as much affection as others expect
• Have difficulty taking advice
• Have difficulty with writing skills
• Have extremely detailed imaginary worlds
• Have imaginary friends
• Have interests that are very similar to those of neurotypical girls, and therefore are not seen as unusual
• Have what is classified as a “male brain”
• Make reliable and trustworthy friends
• Mimic or even try to take on all the characteristics of someone they are trying to emulate
• Notice sounds that others do not hear
• Read fiction to help them learn about inner thoughts, feelings and motivations
• Show little interest in fashion and trends
• Speak their minds (sometimes to the point of being rude)
• Still need to be directly taught certain social skills
• Try to understand a situation before they make the first step
• Use doll play to replay and understand social situations