I found this to be informative and relatable. It felt engaging even with stats and long winded facts. The author definitely is filling in a gap in the publicly accessible Autism information. I think there are some nuances missed as always, and not everyone will be able to relate but I think many women with autism would find this helpful. The narration is also well done. I appreciate the author sharing their knowledge.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the Publishers, this was an informative read.

4.5 rounded up. This book is highly informative without being overbearing. The audiobook narrator was perfect - she sounded intelligent and highly intelligible. The author touches on many aspects to present her case which makes for a sound, well-rounded argument on the lack of study on women with autism. I do work in the medical field, so I was familiar with some of the science already, but this book gave me new ways to look at it. Highly recommend for those whose work overlaps with individuals with autism, whether they be medical professionals, teachers, advocates, etc. Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Audio/Seal Press for the advance audiobook!

I devoured this book and had the pleasure of receiving both the print and audio ARCs of this publication so both reviews are included:

"Off the Spectrum" is a critical piece of literature that is missing the Autism world--Autism is widely known as a "boy thing" and much of the assessment tools are normed on boys/males as are so many of the interventions. Girls/Females go undiagnosed for many years, decades or throughout their entire lives. Neuroscientist Gina Rippon tackles this important topic head on in this book. This book is a work of nonfiction and is a heavy read if you are not familiar with the topic. I recommend sitting down with the printed version and your highlighters/pens as there is a wealth of information. I am immersed in this world so the audio version was a good fit for me too as an excellent validation to what I've experienced, both as a parent and a practitioner. *I received a complimentary print and audio ARC from the author/publishing company via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley, Seal Press and Gina Rippon for providing me with an audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review!

As an autistic woman, I am always excited to see books covering autism and gender so I was anticipating this release and it did not let me down. I definitely would not recommend this as an introduction to understand autism spectrum disorder as the diagnostic criteria, diagnosis process, etc. is only discussing in relation to how it is exclusionary to AFAB and fem presenting people.

I loved how the author weaved studies and information on the history of autistic women with stories from interviews with actual autistic women, it felt so comforting and validating of my experience. I didn't expect to cry when I listened to this, but it was so powerful to me! I also loved the narrator and how they shifted from a more lecture/factual voice when reading statistics and studies to a more conversational tone when reading from the interviews, it was very easy to follow and remain engaged (even when they just listed numbers for 2 mins straight lol).

While I rate this book highly because of how it related to my experience, I can also see how this book can feel exclusionary to some. I felt the complete lack of intersectionality quite strange as it feels like it would be more effort to not mention certain things like race when talking about barriers to diagnosis, how masking is a safety mechanism, etc.

I also found the use of the term "severe" autism as quite ignorant, similar to older research describing autism with functioning labels. I appreciated the author discussing how she would listen to the community post-publication about how certain terms may be offensive so I am speaking from that point of few when I say that most autistic people do not appreciate terms like mild/severe when referring to autism. Allistic people hear autism spectrum disorder and assume it works as a scale from one end to the other but most autistic people would not see it that way.

Personally, I view it more similar to the colour spectrum wheel. Just like how you can slide in different directions to get different colours, every autistic person slides around the spectrum depending on which situation is presented to them but we are all still colours (autistic). I appreciate how difficult this can be to describe as some autistics are non-verbal, struggle to take care of themselves, etc. while others seem to be able to work full time, raise children, etc. so the terminology that has developed that the community has adopted is support needs. This seems to be easier for allistic people to understand as it is a scale, from low to medium to high support needs.

Besides these criticisms, I enjoyed this book thoroughly and will most likely reread! I think I would have been diagnosed a lot earlier than 23 if the mental health professionals I was in the care of had read this book and would recommend this to any mental health care professional, specialising in autism or not!

I'm from France, and, in term of autism research, we are far behind from other countries' research...
So I learned a lot out of this book, it was very interesting but also unnerving as a woman.
This is another topic where we are left behind, where studies exclude us, where men have the power to say who we are or, in this case are NOT.
It is also women who find the work and research that other women have done on the topic.
So thank you Gina Rippon to be one of those women, it is so important for us.
And lastly, as I said, I'm from France so I'm not a native english-speaker but I hadn't problem understanding the audiobook narrator !

thank you so much netgalley for this amazing book

Gina Rippon’s Off the Spectrum is a fantastic and eye-opening book that exposes how the science of autism has failed women and girls for decades. She dismantles the long-standing myth that autism is primarily a male condition and reveals how research biases and flawed diagnostic criteria have led to generations of autistic women being overlooked, misdiagnosed, or completely ignored.

One of the aspects I loved most about this book is Rippon’s insistence on referring to autism as a condition rather than a disorder, reinforcing the idea that autism is simply a different way of experiencing the world—not something inherently “wrong” or in need of fixing. She also does an excellent job explaining how autism can present differently in girls, from masking behaviors to the ways social expectations can obscure diagnosis. This was incredibly enlightening and helped me understand just how much the traditional understanding of autism has been shaped by research that was overwhelmingly focused on boys.

I learned so much from this book, and it made me realize how crucial it is to rethink how we identify and support autistic individuals, especially in education and healthcare. Anyone working with children should be required to read this book—it challenges outdated assumptions and provides essential insights into the diverse ways autism can manifest.

Rippon’s work is a must-read for anyone interested in autism, gender, or the ways scientific bias can shape what we think we know. I highly recommend it.