Off the Spectrum
Why the Science of Autism Has Failed Women and Girls
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2.0 • 1 Rating
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
A cognitive neuroscientist reveals how autistic women have been overlooked by biased research—and makes a passionate case for their inclusion
A New Scientist Best Book of the Year
Who comes to mind when you think about an autistic person? It might be yourself, a relative or friend, a public figure, a fictional character, or a stereotyped image. Regardless, for most of us, it’s likely to be someone male. Autistic women are systematically underdiagnosed, under-researched, and underserved by medical and social systems—to devastating effects.
In Off the Spectrum, cognitive neuroscientist Gina Rippon sheds light on how old ideas about autism leave women behind and how the scientific community must catch up. Generations of researchers, convinced autism was a male problem, simply didn’t bother looking for it in women, creating a snowball effect of biased research. To correct this “male spotlight” problem, Rippon outlines how autism presents differently in girls and women—like their tendency to camouflage their autistic traits, or how their intense interests may take a form considered to be more socially acceptable. When autism research studies don’t recruit female participants, Rippon argues, it’s not only autistic women who are failed; it’s the entire scientific community. Correcting a major scientific bias, Off the Spectrum provides a much-needed exploration of autism in women to parents, clinicians, and autistic women themselves.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The scientific community has helped construct a binary, male-centric view of autism that has overlooked girls and women with the condition for decades, according to this rigorous study. Neuroscientist Rippon (The Gendered Brain) contends that since the first mention of autism in scientific literature in 1943, research "skewed by lack of female participants" and narrow diagnostic criteria has centered on such symptoms as self-isolation, an obsession with routine, and a fascination with "obscure sets of information." Yet recent research has revealed that women with autism tend to fly under the radar because their symptoms are likelier to be invisible (autistic women report higher rates of sensory sensitivity), or "camouflaged" to fit cultural norms. For example, autistic women report devising complex social scripts to skate over communication difficulties, often damaging their self-esteem in the process. Rippon shows how the "new ‘vision' of female autism" and its complex interactions with the "structures and functions of the social brain" sheds fresh light on the condition and how to study it, including the value of participatory research, which involves asking for autistic people's input on diagnostic questions and which populations to study. Peppered with the author's original research and backed by a comprehensive overview of the condition's history, this immersive treatise will enlighten anyone whose life has been touched by autism.
