In comparison to a lot of diagnoses, there is considerably less that is truly understood about these conditions. There is a severe lack of research on how Autism and ADHD presents in people who are AFAB (assigned female at birth), in comparison to people who are AMAB (assigned male at birth). It has been known by researchers for a long time that females can also be AuDHD, however because of the difference in how these disorders present from male to female, it was assumed for a long time that there were fewer females born that way. It is now seen as more than likely however that the reason behind there being fewer females diagnosed than males is because of this lack of research and other societal factors rather than any real discrepancy between the two. 

Those who are brought up as girls commonly go under the radar and, more often than not, will live their whole lives without being diagnosed. Whereas young boys are expected to be rambunctious and hyperactive, young girls subconsciously learn that they are expected to be more reserved and empathetic. AuDHD behaviours are more likely to be reprimanded in girls forcing people who are AFAB and Autistic or ADHD to ‘mask’ from a young age. You ‘mask’ the traits that you come to understand as ‘weird’ or ‘rude’ so that you might simply be perceived as a little bit of “quirky”. 

As a neurodivergent person who learnt to mask to a high standard and didn’t realise my own neurodivergence because of it, I always felt as though there was something wrong with me. I felt as though everyone had read a book called ‘How to be a Normal Person’ and I was the only one that hadn’t even heard of it. Instead of my emotional dysregulation and academic shortcomings being recognised as neurodivergence; it was eventually labelled ‘depression’ and ‘anxiety’. I now understand that these diagnoses were the outcome of years of confusion about myself/others, as well as the suppression of my ‘undesirable’ characteristics to a neurotypical society.