What Clinicians Should Know: Understanding Girls and Women With Autism in a World Where They Are Commonly Overlooked and Misdiagnosed
Live Event

What Clinicians Should Know: Understanding Girls and Women With Autism in a World Where They Are Commonly Overlooked and Misdiagnosed

Fri, Feb 14th, 2025
11:00am – 2:15pm US Eastern Time
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About the Event

Throughout the United States and abroad, boys are more commonly diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Many girls and even females in adulthood are overlooked as having ASD. While the manifestation and exhibited characteristics associated with ASD in females often appears different than for males, females with autism are often misdiagnosed and overlooked altogether-- requiring them to navigate a world predicated on social interaction without a proper diagnosis and relevant services. This training will discuss the common ways that autism manifests for females and clinical considerations for practitioners.

Live Event
This live online event will be held as a Zoom Webinar. Attendees will have the option to interact through features such as the Chat and Q&A, but cameras and microphones will not be enabled.

Live Event Instructor

Christina Marsack-Topolewski

Christina Marsack-Topolewski

Dr. Christina Marsack-Topolewski is an associate professor of Social Work in the College of Health and Human Services at Eastern Michigan University. Dr. Marsack-Topolewski received her PhD in Social Work with a dual title in Gerontology from Wayne State University. She has worked with individuals with various intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) for 20 years. Her research focuses on individuals with autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities, their caregivers, advance care planning, the service delivery model, and service utilization. She has over 90 publications in national and international journals and encyclopedias, mainly focusing on individuals with IDDs, caregiving, as well as services and supports. In addition, she has presented her work locally, nationally, and internationally.

Target Audience

This live interactive webinar is intended for behavioral health professionals, including Psychologists, Social Workers, Counselors, MFT's and Addiction Professionals.

Learning Objectives

After taking this activity, you should be able to:

  1. 1 Analyze common differences in the characteristics and manifestation of autism among females versus males.
  2. 2 Recognize common co-occurring conditions that females with autism often experience.
  3. 3 Explain the reasons for misdiagnosis and under-diagnosis for females with autism.
  4. 4 Summarize strategies and interventions to support females with autism and their family caregivers.

Beck, J. S., Lundwall, R. A., Gabrielsen, T., Cox, J. C., & South, M. (2020). Looking good but feeling bad:“Camouflaging” behaviors and mental health in women with autistic traits. Autism, 24(4), 809-821. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361320912147

Brede, J., Babb, C., Jones, C., Elliott, M., Zanker, C., Tchanturia, K., ... & Mandy, W. (2020). “For me, the anorexia is just a symptom, and the cause is the autism”: Investigating restrictive eating disorders in autistic women. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 50, 4280-4296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04479-3

D'Mello, A. M., Frosch, I. R., Li, C. E., Cardinaux, A. L., & Gabrieli, J. D. (2022). Exclusion of females in autism research: Empirical evidence for a “leaky” recruitment‐to‐research pipeline. Autism Research, 15(10), 1929-1940. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2795

Hull, L., Petrides, K. V., & Mandy, W. (2020). The female autism phenotype and camouflaging: A narrative review. Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 7, 306-317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40489-020-00197-9

Jadav, N., & Bal, V. H. (2022). Associations between co‐occurring conditions and age of autism diagnosis: Implications for mental health training and adult autism research. Autism Research, 15(11), 2112-2125. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2808

Lockwood Estrin, G., Milner, V., Spain, D., Happé, F., & Colvert, E. (2021). Barriers to autism spectrum disorder diagnosis for young women and girls: A systematic review. Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 8(4), 454-470. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40489-020-00225-8

Tubío-Fungueiriño, M., Cruz, S., Sampaio, A., Carracedo, A., & Fernández-Prieto, M. (2021). Social camouflaging in females with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 51, 2190-2199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04695-x

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The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity's planners, faculty, and the reviewer:

Planners and Reviewers

The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

Faculty

There are no known relevant financial relationships to disclose.

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Event Agenda

Agenda times are listed in US Eastern Time. That is 3 hours later than US Pacific Time. The event starts at 8:00am US Pacific Time.

11:00am - 11:30am Introduction / Overview to topic; Description of characteristics, signs, and manifestation of autism in females

11:30am - 11:50am Multi-faceted nature and common co-occurring conditions

11:50am - 12:10pm Misdiagnosis and underdiagnosis in females: Trends and realities

12:10pm - 12:30pm Clinical considerations and strategies to work with this population (part 1)

12:30pm - 12:45pm Break

12:45pm - 1:15pm Clinical considerations and strategies to work with this population - continued (part 2)

1:15pm - 1:30pm Resources and services available for girls / women with autism and their families

1:30pm - 2:00pm Resources and services available for girls / women with autism and their families

2:00pm - 2:15pm Recap and questions / answers 

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