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I’m Autistic: Here’s why I’m Avoiding Diagnosis
tl;dr, It’s about Britney Spears
When I was a child, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, autism was understood to be a developmental disorder that only presented in boys. When I first learned about it in school many of the symptoms resonated with me, but because I am female I figured it was just an odd little coincidence.
As I grew up I have been given a number of explanations for my varied awkwardness. I’ve been diagnosed with depression, there’s been speculation I have obsessive compulsive disorder, and on occasion it’s been suggested I have high anxiety. Cool.
My story is pretty similar to that of a lot of female high-functioning autistic adults. We run about being terribly awkward and uncomfortable for most of our lives, often but not always having very messy houses and advanced degrees and accruing a number of diagnoses which do not fully explain our suite of symptoms. Then we hear about autism and a lightbulb goes off.
In women and girls autism often goes undetected because of how girls are pressured to socialize. One of the diagnostic criteria — if I can be so formal — is inability to…
