From Penny Jackson, Derby, UK
A few readers suggest that female autism should be given a different name. This is a misunderstanding of the problem. Autism isn’t a different condition in women, and diagnostic criteria are the same. The issue is how a behavioural difference manifests given the difference in behavioural expectations of men/boys and women/girls. This is also a generalisation – there are autistic women who are closer to the male stereotype and vice versa(Letters, 3 May and 24 May).
It is possible that what we call autism is more than one condition, and some of them could be linked to chromosomes, but research into this is far too early to tell.
