ArticleWomen's health (London, England)
Roadblocks and detours on pathways to a clinical diagnosis of autism for girls and women: A qualitative secondary analysis.
Article in Women's health (London, England). The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Experiences of females on the autism spectrum through the perspective of minority stress theory: a review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- "Only Boys Can be Autistic": A Qualitative Exploration of Gender Stereotype and Socialization on the Diagnostic Journey.Autism in adulthood · 2026Article
- First Impressions Count: A Systematic Literature Review Exploring Parents of Autistic Children's First Encounters With Healthcare Professionals.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Lived Experience, Family, and Clinician Perspectives on Barriers to Adult Autism Diagnosis and Post-Diagnostic Supports: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review.Journal of developmental and physical disabilities · 2026Article
- Diagnostic challenges of autism spectrum disorder in women without intellectual or language impairments: a narrative review.Journal of medicine and life · 2025Review
- Frustration in healthcare: Sex differences in parental perceptions of medical visits for autistic children.Research in autism · 2025Article
- Longitudinal Relationships Between Depressive Attributional Style and Internalizing Symptoms in an Autism-Enriched Sample of Incoming College Students.Autism in adulthood · 2025Article
- Understanding profound autism: implications for stigma and supports.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Why do we need sex-balanced studies of autism?Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2023Article
- Differential Diagnosis of ICD-11 Personality Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Adolescents.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The Lived Experiences of Autistic Mothers: A Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis of Qualitative Evidence.Autism & developmental language impairmentsReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAutism is not always considered for girls and women until later along their clinical diagnostic pathways. Misdiagnosis or late diagnosis can pose significant disadvantages with respect to accessing timely health and autism-related services and supports. Understanding what contributes to roadblocks and detours along clinical pathways to an autism diagnosis can shed light on missed opportunities for earlier recognition.
objectiveOur objective was to examine what contributed to roadblocks, detours, and missed opportunities for earlier recognition and clinical diagnosis of autism for girls and women.
designWe conducted a qualitative secondary analysis using data from a Canadian primary study that examined the health and healthcare experiences of autistic girls and women through interviews and focus groups.
methodsTranscript data of 22 girls and women clinically diagnosed with autism and 15 parents were analysed, drawing on reflexive thematic analysis procedures. Techniques included coding data both inductively based on descriptions of roadblocks and detours and deductively based on conceptualizations of sex and gender. Patterns of ideas were categorized into themes and the 'story' of each theme was refined through writing and discussing analytic memos, reflecting on sex and gender assumptions, and creating a visual map of clinical pathways.
resultsContributing factors to roadblocks, detours, and missed opportunities for earlier recognition and diagnosis were categorized as follows: (1) age of pre-diagnosis 'red flags' and 'signals'; (2) 'non-autism' mental health diagnoses first; (3) narrow understandings of autism based on male stereotypes; and (4) unavailable and unaffordable diagnostic services.
conclusionProfessionals providing developmental, mental health, educational, and/or employment supports can be more attuned to nuanced autism presentations. Research in collaboration with autistic girls and women and their childhood caregivers can help to identify examples of nuanced autistic features and how context plays a role in how these are experienced and navigated.
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