REVIEW PAPER

Apuntes

REVIEW PAPER The Female Autism Phenotype and Camouflaging: a Narrative Review Laura Hull 1,2 & K. V. Petrides 3 & William Mandy 1 Received: 4 June 2019 / Accepted: 22 January 2020 # The Author(s) 2020 Abstract Autism is more commonly diagnosed in males than females. One explanation is the ‘female protective effect’: there is something inherent in being female which reduces the likelihood of developing autism. However, evidence suggests that the condition is underdiagnosed in females, perhaps because females express their autism in ways which do not meet current diagnostic criteria. This review explores evidence for a female-typical autism presentation, the Female Autism Phenotype (FAP) and the component of camouflaging (compensating for and masking autistic characteristics) in particular. The evidence so far supports the existence of a female-typical autism presentation, although further examination of the characteristics and their impact across all genders and ages is needed. Keywords Autism . Gender . Sex . Camouflaging . Female protective effect . Female autism phenotype Autism Diagnosis and Prevalence Autism diagnosis has traditionally been most common in childhood, when...