Raised hand too much in class or didn’t participate in class.Friends have ended friendship suddenly (without female with AS understanding why) and/or difficult time making friends.Flicks/rubs fingernails, picks scalp/skin, flaps hands, rubs hands together, tucks hands under or between legs, keeps closed fists, paces in circles, and/or clears throat often.Since puberty has had bouts of depression (may have PMDD).Wonders who she is and what is expected of her.Experiences multiple physical symptoms, perhaps labeled “hypochondriac”.Misdiagnosed or diagnosed with a mental illness.Chronic fatigue and/or immune challenges.Irritable bowel and/or intestinal issues.Eating disorders, food obsessions, and/or worry about what is eaten.Poor muscle tone, double-jointed, and/or lack in coordination (may have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and/or Hypotonia and/or POTS syndrome).Feelings of polar extremes (depressed/over-joyed inconsiderate/over-sensitive).Sensory Issues (sight, sound, texture, smells, taste) (might have Synthesia).Cannot relax or rest without many thoughts.Escapes through counting, categorizing, organizing, rearranging.Numbers bring ease (could be numbers associated with patterns, calculations, lists, time and/or personification).Escapes through a relationship (imagined or real).Escapes by playing the same music over and over.Obsessively collects and organizes objects.Imitates friends or peers in style, dress, attitude, interests, and manner (sometimes speech).Makes friends with older or younger females more so than friends her age (often in young adulthood).Treated friends as “pawns” in youth e.g., friends were “students” “consumers” “members”.Imitates people on television or in movies.Escapes routinely through imagination, fantasy, and daydreaming.Escapes regularly through fixations, obsessions, and over-interest in subjects.Survives overwhelming emotions and senses by escaping in thought or action.Abused or taken advantage of as a child but didn’t think to tell anyone.Feelings of being misplaced and/or from another planet.Feelings of confusion and being overwhelmed.Finds it difficult to understand vindictive behavior and retaliation.Finds it difficult to understand manipulation and disloyalty.Often gets lost in own thoughts and “checks out” (blank stare).Analyzes existence, the meaning of life, and everything, continually.

Sees things at multiple levels, including her own thinking processes.This list is meant as a springboard for discussion and more awareness into the female experience with autism.

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