After doing so much research online and through my college regarding Autism Spectrum Disorders the constant diagnostic statistic of for every girl diagnosed with an ASD there is FOUR boys diagnosed with it. (I am using my memory here from my reading and none of my "statistics" may be actually accurate I am going by what I have read online).
For one thing it is my personal belief that it is because girls are less aggressive and more emotional anyway. Therefore a girl having temper tantrums is not too far from the "norm" of a girl crying when upset, etc. A boy have extreme emotions seems to be a little more noticeable.
I always hear that the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders has something like tripled since the 90s. This makes people thing that it is being over diagnosed. However, I find humor in that. The fact that all of these non-profit organizations have created public interest in the media and increased the knowledge of symptoms this has created a net that allows people with milder forms to be caught in the net to receive treatment. The knowledge of the disorder was what they intended when creating these agencies and charities.
My daughter just recently received the "official" diagnosis of PDD-NOS. This diagnosis is due to the fact that she can speak. Her more severe behaviors are obsessive, controlling behaviors, tantrums, and lack of appropriate social skills. She also has repetitive behaviors like humming, rocking, and twisting and flapping her arms and wrists (although ironically I never really noticed anything weird about her hand movements until after she received the diagnosis, now I notice it all the time.).
Getting the diagnosis has helped already. For one thing I feel that I understand her problems better and have started to "pick my battles".
I have eased up on letting her no wear things she doesn't want to wear (underwear with no tags);
I am more tolerant of her hyperactivity;
I use simpler ways of talking to her and more sure she understands me;
I give her one direction at a time;
I let her talk about what she wants to talk about and try to keep her talking and making eye contact;
I try to be more affectionate and take notice of everything she does that is appropriate;
The diagnosis has also helped the school realize that she needs the services. She now has a behavior plan and reduced amount of homework that is more at her level. She will also be participating in a social skills group to learn how to "play nice".
If you have a child and you're worried about symptoms, push for an evaluation. The worst thing you will be told is that there is nothing wrong. There is nothing wrong with hearing that. (although if your gut still tells you otherwise you might want to seek a second opinion). This is especially with girls. Girls are less likely to get diagnosed probably because they still present as less severe then boys. It is my personal belief that there are just as many girls as boys on the "spectrum" and that they are under-diagnosed, particularly "milder" cases like my daughters. My daughter's severe symptoms are her behaviors and social skill but she can speak and although her conversations can be one-sided, she can still have them.
Of course the more severe the case, the more intervention is needed. I am fortunate that my daughter doesn't have classic Autism in which they can't talk or care for themselves and there is mental retardation. However, just because it is considered "mild" in comparison to other kids "on the lower functioning end " it is still serious when comparing to another "normal" child's social and academic abilities. There is still a need for intervention, in fact in some ways the milder cases are probably the ones who should receive services because there is more of a chance for those services to help the symptoms and give that child more of a chance of "recovering" from it.
I love my daugher, she is adorable. SHe wants to learn to play the guitar! Maybe we will teach her:)
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