Women and Girls on the Autism Spectrum (Second Edition)

Understanding Life Experiences from Early Childhood to Old Age

De: Sarah Hendrickx, Judith Gould - foreword, Jess Hendrickx

Narrado por: Lucie McNeil

Comprehensive overview of autism in females with lived experience accounts and latest research.

The difference that being female makes to the diagnosis, life and experiences of an autistic person is hugely significant. In this widely expanded second edition, Sarah Hendrickx combines the latest research with personal stories from girls and women on the autism spectrum to present a picture of their feelings, thoughts and experiences at each stage of their lives.

Outlining the likely impact will be for autistic women and girls throughout their lifespan, Hendrickx surveys everything from diagnosis, childhood, education, adolescence, friendships and sexuality, to employment, pregnancy, parenting, and aging.

With up-to-date content on masking, diagnosis later in life, and a new focus on trans and non-binary voices, as well as a deeper dive into specific health and wellbeing implications including menopause, PCOS, Hypermobility/Ehlers-Danlos, autistic burnout, and alexithymia, this is an invaluable companion for professionals, as well as a guiding light for women with autism to understand and interpret their own experience in context.

©2024 Sarah Hendrickx (P)2024 Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Pretty good

Solid information. It also gives a lot of examples of lived experiences so you can see how varied the lives of autistic women are.

Absolutely eye opening

“I love being weird, everyone is just basic” it’s my go to for myself, my daughter and my patients.

How thorough the research was, and how correct the findings about Autism

This book is a MUST for anyone who is autistic. It will help you more than you'll know!

A Different View of Autism Spectrum Disorder

As a school psychologist I came into this book with a background in the more "classic" expression of ASD, which is based on the study of males with autism, primarily. This book provided a comprehensive review of the differences one might see in females with autism.

At times, it was difficult to listen to research shared in an audiobook format. The references and page numbers can be tedious. However, the many examples from individuals helped to bring the research to life.

I learned a great deal from this book and I wish I had this knowledge years ago. Thank you, Ms. Hendrickx, for expanding my horizons!

excellent and needed

Highly recommend it. Listen to it. Includes both scientific data AND personal anecdotes from real life autistic women. That thoughful, comprehensive combination of information sources makes this book stand out as (probably) the most useful book about autism in women to date. Imo. Obviously.

Must read

Whether you have autism, or someone you know, truly inspiring to know you aren’t alone!

illuminating

As a late diagnosed autistic woman, this book helped me understand and accept myself. Also, it help me identify tools to cope with different necessities I was used to mask, hide or repress. This updated edition had everything I needed.

Female autism facts, info & experiences

Mind blowing! How can autism look so different in females vs males!?! As I read this book to find out more information for my daughter’s recent diagnosis, I’m realizing that I might also benefit from being tested as so much of this book also sounds like me.

Clear and Compassionate View of Female Autism

The contents of this book helped me. A lot of it sounded exactly like me. I am exhausted from the learning, stunned, relieved.

The Puzzle Box Lid I’ve Needed

Imagine trying to put a puzzle together without the box lid. With no guidance, no picture, it is futile. Perhaps a few pieces go together, but the whole puzzle...at best, it would take 10 times longer and, at worst, you may never finish the puzzle. That has been my whole life. Trying to put my puzzle together without the box lid, without the picture. Mystery illness, eccentric personal habits, struggles with relationships, struggles with career direction, profoundly high sensitivity, and propensity to burnout in "typical adult life circumstances." I can't tell you how many times I"ve said, "I just don't know how people do it -- how they do all the things adults do and how they can just keep going day after day. My heart and mind are exhausted, and my body feels like it's breaking under the burden of ordinary things."

Well, friends, this book is like the puzzle box lid I've been searching for to finally put the pieces of my life together! Women and Girls on the Autism Spectrum is an absolute must-read if you suspect you may be an autistic female. I'm a 46-year-old woman who has strongly suspected my own autism for several years. I have researched extensively, as you might imagine, turning myself into my own special-interest project. Sarah Hendrickx's book was the one book I somehow had not found or read yet, until my neurodivergent therapist recommended it. I devoured it quickly, taking notes, scribbling in the margins, dog-earing pages, and underlining entire pages. My whole life suddenly became not only clear, but blessed and honored. Dr. Hendrickx's book is equally researched and grounded in science while being deeply personal, especially with the addition of countless interviewee stories. I voraciously listened to this book on Audible and now have my paperback in hand to read and reference again!

Buy this book. It will not only help you to honor your life and bless yourself, but it will give you the language to speak with confidence and compassion about your life should you choose to share your autism with others.