Girls with Autism Becoming Women: A Text-based Qualitative Approach

Girls in the U.S. are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders ASD later and less often than boys. The most recent statistics from the Center for Disease Control indicate that boys are diagnosed 4.5 times more often than girls, but the cause of this disparity is not yet fully understood. The complex genetics behind ASD could play a role, but so could cultural, ideological, and diagnostic bias based on gender. In any case, girls and women with ASD form a minority within the greater ASD community whose needs and experiences require more attention. This dissertation applies a text-based, qualitative approach to the autobiographies of seven American women with ASD to better understand the transition from childhood to adulthood. This research grows out of an interdisciplinary disability studies perspective that applies the principles of grounded theory to illustrate and examine some of the primary themes that emerge from careful review of these first-person narratives. Education, sexuality, career paths, and social networks of support are four of the central themes generated by a method of constant comparison. Careful analysis of the data reveals variables, such as date of birth and age of diagnosis, that impact the lives of women with ASD.