Autistic Women Archives - Spectrum Women

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What is Wellness?

June 29, 2022 Spectrum Women

by Barb Cook M.Aut.(Edu), Dip.HSc.(Nut), Developmental Educator, Integrative Neurodivergent Nutritionist & Adult ADHD Coach We all need energy. How we obtain it however can come from a variety of sources. We can get energy from food which gives us calories to burn, sleep which restores our mental and physical wellbeing so we have energy to do things throughout the day, and from doing things we enjoy. Looking at all the different ways to obtain energy has me thinking about the necessity of food. Food provides our bodies with fuel as well as sustaining life. Over the past few decades, we […]

Asking Spectrum Women

October 2019 Segment: ASKING SPECTRUM WOMEN with Becca Lory Hector CAS, BCCS

September 30, 2019 Spectrum Women

Welcome to October’s segment of Asking Spectrum Women with Becca Lory Hector. This month Becca discusses three questions asked by our followers. First up (01:18) Becca discusses identifying with autism, validation, and seeking diagnosis. The second part (06:40) focuses on masking and is it possible to “unmask”. The last part of the video (14:17) Becca explores PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) and Executive Functioning and what is looks like in adults. If you have a question you would like answered, please email us at support@spectrumwomen.com or Becca directly at info@beccalory.com

Autism April

VIDEO: NIMH Special Event – A Woman’s Voice: Understanding Autistic Needs

May 7, 2019 Spectrum Women

browser does not support iframe Run Time Approx 1 hour 40 minutes Event source page https://iacc.hhs.gov/meetings/autism-events/2019/april23/spectrum-women.shtml The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Office of Autism Research Coordination (OARC) is pleased to invite you to attend our annual special event to recognize National Autism Awareness Month, A Woman’s Voice: Understanding Autistic Needs. We will be hosting a Panel Presentation featuring three authors of the book Spectrum Women: Walking to the Beat of Autism, Barb Cook, Liane Holliday-Willey, Ed.D., and Dena Gassner, M.S.W. The panel will also include Jennifer O’Toole, author of Autism in Heels: The Untold Story of a Female Life on […]

Insights

15 THINGS YOU SHOULD ABSOLUTELY SAY TO AN AUTISTIC WOMAN

August 20, 2018 Spectrum Women

A Spectrum Women Compilation, edited by Becca Lory Hector, Jen Elcheson and Maura Campbell. Contributors: Barb Cook, Dena Gassner, Renata Jurkevythz, Lisa Toner Morgan, Liane Holliday Willey, Christine Jenkins, Terri Mayne, Kate Ross, and Anita Lesko. We received such an AUSOME response to our list of things you should NEVER say to an autistic woman that we had to compile a sister list for it of some really great things you could, and should, ABSOLUTELY say to an autistic woman (or any autistic adult regardless of gender). And since you guys finally felt the burn of being left out last […]

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15 THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER SAY TO AN AUTISTIC WOMAN

August 13, 2018 Spectrum Women

A Spectrum Women Compilation, edited by Jen Elcheson and Maura Campbell Barb Cook, Dena Gassner, Renata Jurkevythz, Anita Lesko, Becca Lory, Terri Mayne, Yenn Purkis, Kate Ross, Lisa Morgan Content Warning: ableism, paternalizing, bullying, sexism (pretty much a smorgasbord of awful). We present to you another collaborative piece where we discuss a bunch of things people should not say to autistic women (or, indeed, to any autistic person, female-presenting or otherwise) and why saying them can be negative from an autistic perspective. 1. “Are you sure you’re autistic?” Trying to talk someone out of their diagnosis, questioning their identity, saying […]

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The women who don’t know they’re autistic

July 21, 2017 Spectrum Women

Fabienne Cazalis, École des Hautes Études en sciences sociales (EHESS) This article was co-written by Adeline Lacroix, who works with Fabienne Cazalis and was recently diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. A second year master’s student in psychology, she is working on a scientific literature review about the characteristics of high-functioning autistic women. Let’s call her Sophie. The description we’ll give could be that of any woman who is on the autistic spectrum without knowing it. Because they’re intelligent and used to compensating for communication impediments they may not be consciously aware of, these women slip through the cracks of our still-too-inefficient […]

Interviews

Part 2 of 2 SWM presents Dr William Mandy speaking with Christine Jenkins ~ Women & Autistic Diagnosis

July 2, 2017 Spectrum Women

Part 2 of 2 (6 minutes) Spectrum Women Magazine presents Dr William Mandy (Clinical Psychologist at University College London) speaking with SWM Correspondent Christine Jenkins on women and autistic diagnosis. Recording date June 27, 2017 Toronto. Part 1 of 2 can be viewed here. Slides: Gender Differences on the Autism Spectrum. Professor David Skuse MD FRCP Institute of Child Health. https://saac.chu-sainte-justine.org/pages/Autisme%202016%20-%20David%20Skuse.pdf “Putting on My Best Normal”: Social Camouflaging in Adults with Autism Spectrum Conditions Laura Hull K. V. Petrides Carrie Allison Paula Smith Simon Baron‑Cohen Meng‑Chuan Lai William Mandy https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10803-017-3166-5.pdf The Experiences of Late-diagnosed Women with Autism Spectrum Conditions: An Investigation of the Female Autism Phenotype. Sarah Bargiela Robyn Steward William […]

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Part 1 of 2 SWM Interview: Dr William Mandy discussing Women & Autism with Correspondent Christine Jenkins

July 2, 2017 Spectrum Women

Part 1 of 2 (18 minutes) Spectrum Women Magazine presents an interview with Dr William Mandy (Clinical Psychologist at University College London) speaking with SWM Correspondent Christine Jenkins about Autistic women, camouflaging, strengthening of traits, diagnostic tools specifically for women and the “gatekeepers” to obtaining a diagnosis. Recording date June 27, 2017 Toronto. Part 2 of 2 can be viewed here. Slides: Gender Differences on the Autism Spectrum. Professor David Skuse MD FRCP Institute of Child Health. https://saac.chu-sainte-justine.org/pages/Autisme%202016%20-%20David%20Skuse.pdf “Putting on My Best Normal”: Social Camouflaging in Adults with Autism Spectrum Conditions Laura Hull K. V. Petrides Carrie Allison Paula Smith Simon Baron‑Cohen Meng‑Chuan Lai William Mandy https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10803-017-3166-5.pdf The Experiences of Late-diagnosed Women […]

Friends – Good and True and Preferably Autie by Yenn Purkis

August 2, 2016 Spectrum Women

My childhood and early adulthood was characterised by my friends – either the fact that they were absent or inappropriate or downright dangerous. I never had a peer group. In fact I was so devoid of suitable friends that I found myself taking on belief systems and attitudes just to be accepted by one dodgy peer group or another – revolutionary socialists, criminals, drug addicts – I wanted so much to belong to something that I didn’t seem to mind how negative or unpleasant membership of that peer group might be. I lacked a genuine culture. I felt so isolated […]