Hannah Belcher, PhD, Autistic researcher, speaker, and author, discusses the often late and missed diagnosis of autistic females.
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Dr. Hannah Belcher was diagnosed with ‘Asperger’s Syndrome’ in 2012, at the age of 23. She is currently a researcher at King’s College London. Her book, "Taking off the Mask", about how autistic people can reduce their camouflaging behaviours and improve their wellbeing, was published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers in 2022. Hannah has been invited to give talks across the UK on her own experiences of autism and her research, including the British Science Festival (2019) and the National Autism Society’s’ ‘Women and Girls’ conference (2019). She has been interviewed both nationally and globally, featuring on the BBC and ABC, as well as in "The Guardian" and the "New Scientist."
00:00 - Intro
1:27 - About Hannah Belcher
3:09 - Taking off the Mask book highlight
3:36 - Language, terminology, and content warning
5:38 - Key content
6:00 - What do we know about autistic women?
7:30 - Missed diagnosis and current diagnostic basis
8:54 - Autism Quotient background
9:48 - Study: Autism quotient gender bias
11:11 - Study: Assessment measures gender bias
12:45 - Changing prevalence rates
13:30 - Autism gender gap
14:25 - Female phenotype theory
17:30 - Study: Diagnosed vs potentially undiagnosed autistic women
19:30 - Masking and hiding traits
22:45 - Why do autistic people mask?
24:40 - Study: First impressions of autistic women and men
27:29 - Effects of masking on mental health (personal flowchart)
30:05 - Why masking has this effect
34:23 - Clinician bias
37:28 - A hidden population
38:50 - Borderline Personality Disorder
41:38 - What needs to change?
45:10 - Closing, thanks, and Q & A
