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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

That has been our experience.

My autistic daughter went to K-2 with many autistic boys. She had an "easier" time than them because she had more school readiness behavior, in terms of being able to follow directions and sit still and listen to the teacher. Now in high school, she is struggling much more than those same boys: anxiety and depression have hit her harder and girl friendships are so much harder to navigate.

Fwiw, the boys were all diagnosed at 2-3 years old and she wasn't diagnosed until 5. They all lined up toys, etc. but those behaviors were seen as more appropriate for girls, so didn't raise any red flags until her social skills didn't make the jump away from parallel play.[/quote]

Sure, but there's a difference between your situation - a girl who had clear symptoms of autism that were overlooked because her early signs conformed more to expected girl behavior - and the idea that girls can be diagnosed with "milder" symptoms or that there's a different presentation in girls.[/quote]
DP
When people say there's a different presentation in girls, they mean many girls meet the criteria for diagnosing but don't get tested for autism because it looks different than in boys.

For example, an autistic person can have social motivation. At young ages autistic girls are more likely to have more social motivation than autistic boys. But they still struggle with perspective taking and reciprocity just like the boys. They might play "with" other kids but are really just following them around. [/quote]

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