4.5/5 ⭐️

I received an ARC copy of the audiobook version of this book thanks to NetGalley, Hachette Audio and Seal Press. This book is SO needed; not just in the Autism community, but each and every person could benefit from listening to or reading this book. The author has a great way of breaking information down to make it relatable and understandable regardless of the background you are coming from. She made a really great point when speaking about Asperger’s and how when they dispelled Asperger’s and lumped it in with Autism Spectrum Disorder it truly left a lot of people feeling without a piece of their identity. I can understand where Autism is a spectrum and Asperger’s has a place on that spectrum, but I can also understand where when it has always been such a stand alone piece of the spectrum, to lump it in can bring up a lot of feelings for people and identity crisis that maybe weren’t there prior, or that people may have finally overcome by being given a diagnosis.
The author also really drove home the fact about females getting overlooked, it’s something that myself as a parent and educator am aware of, but the author made some really valid points that I hadn’t considered until reading them in the book!

I will be purchasing the book when it is published as I do feel like I would love to do a deeper dive into the text.

The narrator also did a great job and was easy to listen to!

Raises important questions Autistic Women and Girls need answered .. yesterday

I listened to the audio book version of Off the Spectrum, which was narrated by Catherine Bailey. The introduction was read by Gina Rippon herself, which was a nice touch and made it feel more genuine. If you struggle to take in a lot of numerical and statistical information verbally, you will definitely want to pick up a paper copy.

As a researcher specialising in neuroscience on the brain (gender differences in AMAB and AFAB brains), as well as an activist, Gina Rippon uses this book to sift through one hundred years' worth of research into Autism in females and the male bias most of this research exhibits. She examines the history of diagnosis, terminology and empirical errors. What little current scientific news there is on AFAB autistic people and brains, she summarises rather shortly. What she does, with the exactitude of a neuroscientist, is lay bare the missing information, the gaps in the research. This book does not answer questions, it finds the gaps and asks the scientific community to do better. A roadmap for the future?

I have to say first and foremost, that as an autistic woman, there was little new in this book. There were many interesting things in there but she did not provide an answer to the question of how women, girls and all AFAB are going to be more able to be included in research and in access to diagnoses. She points at data as to why this has been the case in the past and asks important questions, but she does not demonstrate much in terms of putting these things into practice.

This book deals with a lot of heavy things, including gender binary language, eating disorders, bullying and self harm. If you have issues with these things, you may want to get someone to skim the chapters for you in advance.

In my review, I am trying to use appropriate language for those on the ASC spectrum. One of the big downsides in this book (and for which the author tries to apologise in the introduction) is the binary language. Male and female people with autism, male and female brains. There is a short section on diverse genders in AFAB autistics, but it feels like a cop-out to not use inclusive language throughout with such a significant proportion of AFAB autistic people having diverse gender identities (she even points that out..). Another massive issue is the medical concept Rippon uses almost throughout the entire book. With ASD (disorder) no longer being the preferred term of the community, her consistently using it feels insulting. Identity-first language (autistic people, not people with autism) would have been a big step towards making this book appeal to the community as coming from an ally.
Another entire group missing from her book (and, of course, the research) are POC. The fact that there is little research into AFAB autistic POC cannot mean that there is none, and even if that is the case, Rippon should display thoroughness and call that out, too.

I think the target audience of this book is not the autistic woman (or girl, or family member post-diagnosis) but rather GPs, psychotherapists and the research community. It is a powerful call for more rigour and inclusion of the overlooked half of the population into health research. It is not news to the affected people.

This audiobook was full of detailed information on Autism and how it relates to women. Having several neurodivergent relatives, this book opened my eyes to how girls have been treated differently in diagnoses. Thank you to #NetGalley for this audiobook ARC #OffTheSpectrum.

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.