Autism Spectrum Disorder in Females: An Alternative Treatment Method

Autism is a complex, incurable neurodevelopmental disorder with symptoms like fixed interests and difficulties with communication as listed by the DSM-5TR. In recent years, research has suggested a disparity in symptoms between men and women that grows with age. Due to environmental and biological factors, women with autism face what may be a very different trajectory of life originating from the same disorder. While various methods of treatment have been used for those with autism, there is little evidence for the effectiveness of sex-specific targeted interventions like mindfulness-based stress reduction on females. Through a transdisciplinary lens, literature from the past decade was collected to attempt to answer the question of “How and to what extent does mindfulness-based stress reduction reduce stress levels in females with autism spectrum disorder when it is taught to them?”. The effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction is found to be greatly relevant to the sex-specific symptoms of females with autism across their lifespan, but it may not be the only possible targeted intervention that is successful with females.