Women do not become Autistic, or "Aspies," as I call us, all of a sudden.  We grew up in the fifties through the eighties, never understanding why life was harder for us than for our siblings, cousins, classmates, and ultimately colleagues. Autism was not recognized as a neurological difference in audio and sensory information processing.  The medical and education fields believed that there was only one form of neurological  processing  and thus considered us to be "slow learners." 

We were rejected and often bullied with a great deal of name-calling. For many years we just accepted this behavior believing we were inferior, possibly even disabled. Throughout our schooling, we found a group that finally accepted us.  For me, they were musicians.   Upon high school and college graduations, some were fortunate to slide into full careers before the traits of Autism showed up in their interviews and work cultures. However, many, like me, could not obtain careers within our college fields of study.  Even though we could handle the position, we were too anxious in the interview to compete with the neurotypical candidates.  To the best of our ability, we found other low-pay or no-pay jobs to keep us busy. We became the under-employed Aspie demographic.  Some women found that this hardship was more than they could handle.  Many of our family members also had difficulty accepting our newly diagnosed condition, which became understood almost eight years after the male gender by Tony Atwood, a leading psychologist. Sadly, with the combined factors of family members doubting our diagnosis and challenges obtaining emotionally sustaining career positions, some women commit suicide at the average age of 54. 

In 2018, I found a wonderful institute with an amazing leader who immediately saw my gifts that nobody had bothered to acknowledge as unique.  This newfound belief in my extraordinary abilities inspired me to get certified as a Life Coach to lead other women to find their gifts and escape the horrific statistic of suicide among Aspie women.