Misrepresentation and misdiagnosis: An investigation into the female autistic experience and how it is affected by male-centric medicine and media

This literature review explores the elective affinities between gender, autism and film and television (media). Autism spectrum disorder (autism) provides a unique subject matter for considering the link between gender discrimination and disability. The considerations when discussing autism are the female behaviour traits that can differ from the male counterpart, the lack of representation of females within medical research and the limited, accurate representation within media. Tracing the impact of using the male as the normative subject in medical research and media, it can be determined that there is and has been barriers in place for females receiving accurate diagnosis and support. Autism invites us to rethink our assumptions about gender. Cognisant of this, I meticulously sourced literature, undertook a thematic analysis of the literature to identify overarching themes and explored these in line with the wellbeing principles set out in the Care Act 2014. My findings indicate that there is gender discrimination in disability; adopting a feminist approach to social work can ameliorate practice and enable the inclusion of females with a disability like autism. Gender and disability discrimination has gradually improved over the years; however, there is still room for growth and improvement in practice