Swedish study finds autism diagnosis rates in girls catch up to boys by age 20, challenging male-centric views.

A large Swedish study of 2.7 million people found that while boys are more often diagnosed with autism in childhood, the gender gap closes by age 20, with nearly equal diagnosis rates for girls and boys. The research, published in the BMJ, suggests autistic girls are frequently underdiagnosed early in life, possibly due to masking behaviors or biases in diagnostic tools that don’t account for how autism presents differently in girls. Diagnosis rates for girls increased sharply during adolescence, with a median age of 15.9 compared to 13.1 for boys. Experts say delayed diagnoses can lead to misdiagnoses with anxiety or ADHD and emphasize the need for more equitable detection methods and greater awareness of autism in females.