Females may be just as likely to be autistic as males but boys are up to four times more likely to be diagnosed in childhood, according to a large-scale study. Of the 2.7 million people tracked, 2.8% were diagnosed with autism between the ages of two and 37. The research calculated that in childhood, boys were diagnosed on average nearly three years earlier than girls – the median age at diagnosis was 15.9 for girls, but 13.1 for boys. Overall, boys were three to four times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with autism under the age of 10, although girls were found to “catch up” by the time they were 20, owing to a rapid increase in autism diagnosis during adolescence. “Misdiagnosed autistic women can develop coexisting mental health difficulties, such as anxiety and depression, as a result of a lack of support and the exhaustion of masking.

Source: The Guardian February 05, 2026 22:00 UTC