A cognitive neuroscientist reveals how autistic women have been overlooked by biased researchand makes a passionate case for their inclusion

A New Scientist Best Book of the Year

Who comes to mind when you think about an autistic person? It might be yourself, a relative or friend, a public figure, a fictional character, or a stereotyped image. Regardless, for most of us, its likely to be someone male. Autistic women are systematically underdiagnosed, under-researched, and underserved by medical and social systemsto devastating effects.

In Off the Spectrum, cognitive neuroscientist Gina Rippon sheds light on how old ideas about autism leave women behind and how the scientific community must catch up. Generations of researchers, convinced autism was a male problem, simply didnt bother looking for it in women, creating a snowball effect of biased research. To correct this male spotlight problem, Rippon outlines how autism presents differently in girls and womenlike their tendency to camouflage their autistic traits, or how their intense interests may take a form considered to be more socially acceptable. When autism research studies dont recruit female participants, Rippon argues, its not only autistic women who are failed; its the entire scientific community. Correcting a major scientific bias, Off the Spectrum provides a much-needed exploration of autism in women to parents, clinicians, and autistic women themselves.