Females with autism are more likely to go undiagnosed and be vulnerable when it comes to relationships, research suggests.
Charity Scottish Autism claims that many women and girls with the condition are being missed and often go on to struggle with jobs and relationships as a result.
The research, which also shows that many girls underachieve at school despite being extremely capable because of the failure to diagnose, forms the basis of a new programme by the charity to help females who are on the autism spectrum.
Charlene Tait, development director at Scottish Autism, said: "Among the many issues around access to diagnosis of autism, especially in adults, it is increasingly recognised that females with the condition are being missed.
"We know from engaging and working with autistic girls and women that they have a great deal of potential but can also face many challenges.
"While female-specific research is limited, what there is indicates that autism has an impact across many aspects of their lives and can be detrimental to their overall quality of life.
"Girls who live on the spectrum, for example, may not have the same social networks as their non-autistic peers so they may miss out on the informal learning that goes on among friendship groups and can be more vulnerable in relationships and other situations."
The research revealed that - as well as underachieving - adolescent girls with autism can also be vulnerable to bullying and may develop health problems, including self-harm.
While women with the condition, even those in employment, who are married with children of their own, can struggle to keep a job or maintain successful relationships without proper diagnosis and support.
As a result, some incur mental health problems later in life.
One of the women involved in the study was Stella Macdonald, a 55-year-old who only discovered she had Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, in 2001.
Ms Macdonald, whose daughter Louise was given also given a formal diagnosis several years beforehand, said her won diagnosis was a bolt out of the blue that "helped pave a path towards self-understanding and acceptance".
The mother-of-three said that because girls are more accommodating of people who are different than boys, it may have seemed to the outside world she was coping when in fact she suffered anxiety, emotional trauma and a constant feeling of failure.
She added: "Even an informal diagnosis, for many of us, is vital in building a better understanding of ourselves and who we are.
"We also need to focus on the barriers when it comes to socialising because, despite the many talents and gifts that an individual with autism has to offer, social barriers can prevent us from reaching our potential and making a great contribution to others and the world."
The Women and Girls Right Click Programme aims to help females of all ages who have autism to better manage some of the challenges they face.
It will provide information on diagnosis, education, employment, relationships and health and wellbeing.
Ms Tait added: "While we focus on helping all people with autism – male or female – through their whole life journey, the Women and Girls Right Click Programme is designed to help address some of the specific challenges faced by females living on the spectrum.
"Research shows the consequences of under-diagnosis and poor levels of understanding or awareness of the needs of this particular group can make them especially vulnerable.
"There are negative outcomes, identified in the limited research that has been done on females autism, which can have a hugely detrimental impact on their lives but this is by no means an inevitability.
"We believe that support through new programmes like this one can help females living with the condition develop and progress so they can get the most out of life."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here