Annette Lewns has more experience than most of the different ways in which boys and girls with autism are treated. Her 14-year-old son, Ryan, was diagnosed when he was three and a half. But doctors refused to diagnose her 12-year-old daughter, Rachel, until she was nine.
"What
angers me is that for years I was dismissed by doctors purely because
Rachel was a girl. Ryan was spotted very quickly because the autism
symptoms that doctors look for are so male-orientated," said Lewns.
"But Rachel's autism was hidden unless you knew where to look for it.
"Rachel
could express herself, she had a couple of friends and understood
emotions if someone was at an extreme: really upset or really happy. But
you didn't really have to look too hard to see she didn't genuinely
understand emotions or relationships: she was just mimicking scripts and
scenarios from TV."
Full Article on Guardian Society
Annette Lewns is a Carer from Wiltshire who has previously had support and services from Carer Support Wiltshire.
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