Starting from the assumption that menarche and menstruation are overwhelmingly negative events for developmentally disabled women, Steward et al. conduct much-needed research focusing on the experiences of women with autism. This preliminary investigation is a brief online survey on post-menarcheal autistic (n=123) and non-autistic (n=114) respondents. Although autistic respondents report many overlapping issues and experiences with non-autistic respondents, they also highlight distinct-and sometimes distressing-issues relating to menstruation, especially a cyclical amplification of autistic-related challenges, including sensory differences and difficulties with regulating emotion and behavior, which have a significant, negative impact on their lives. These initial findings call for systematic research on the potential causes, correlates, and consequences of menstrual-related problems in autistic individuals-across the spectrum and the lifespan.
CITATION STYLE
Steward, R., Crane, L., Roy, E. M., Remington, A., & Pellicano, E. (2020). “Life is Much More Difficult to Manage During Periods”: Autistic Experiences of Menstruation. In The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies (pp. 751–761). Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0614-7_55
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