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SOCIETY|WOMEN|AUTISM
Girls with Autism and Why Society Missed Them
My absolutely unscientific and totally anecdotally supported theory
Years ago I had a theory about why there is so much violence among men and boys. Informed by my education in cultural anthropology and my own imagination, I theorized that the male human was still being affected by their evolutionary need to fight to protect the “tribe.” As such, in spite of humanity coming to a place where we should be able to “all get along,” boys and men found meaning in being part of a cohesive group of some kind, including gangs. The violence of gangs, MMA fighters, boxers, and other groups against one another was a release of this inherent need to fight; anger built up because there is no other type of release available other than these.
I have a similarly unscientific theory about why autism in girls and women has been missed until quite recently. I say that it’s unscientific, but I also claim that it is somewhat educated, based on both my actual anthropological studies, my extensive reading, and my research into autism as I learned to advocate for my son when he was young and for my students today.
My theory
For thousands of years now, women have been relegated to secondary or even tertiary…
