As a woman with autism, Kate will talk about the gender discrepancy in autism diagnoses. Women and girls often display completely different behaviors than what neurotypical people have been taught to associate with autism, which affects when and how (and if) they are diagnosed. Autism being diagnosed at a younger age leads to a higher chance of that child receiving evidence-based treatment, which can help with better life outcomes.

This discrepancy is why Kate wants to encourage more research be done on symptoms of autism in women and girls so that they can be more easily and accurately diagnosed in the future. Kate Kahle is a junior at Austin College from Dallas, Texas, and is studying Political Science and Art. She is also a ceramicist and skateboarder. As an autistic woman, Kahle is an advocate for autism acceptance. She hopes promote autistic self-love as well as help neurotypical individuals see autism not as a tragedy or a disease but rather for what it is, a lifelong, genetic developmental disability that is just another way of thinking and being in the world.

16 year old Niamh McCann is passionate about many things including ballet, the plays of William Shakespeare, the environment and public speaking! Her talk looks at the challenges of the high-functioning end of the Autistic Spectrum for girls. Niamh is a quiet, sensitive girl who studied hard, got good grades and not one to cause trouble. She researched the reasons why girls on the spectrum are often misdiagnosed or have late diagnosis. Her hope is that through her talk and sharing what she has learnt, all girls on the spectrum will feel freer to embrace who they are and that those who are yet to be diagnosed are not afraid to do so.

Contrary to popular belief, many autistic adults are undiagnosed or may not even know they’re autistic. Kip Chow, who was diagnosed as an adult, unpacks two of the main reasons why. Kip Chow is an autistic student dedicated to education, activism, and accessibility as pertaining to neurodiversity.

Since discovering that they’re autistic as an adult, they aim to promote understanding and acceptance of autistic folks, especially undiagnosed and multiply marginalized ones. As a result, Kip has served as a panelist and speaker at a couple of student conferences for health care providers in training to address how they should move forward in interacting with autistic and otherwise marginalized patients