Résumé
Women with ASD without ID are underdiagnosed compared to men, and the misdiagnosis they find themselves in for many years can cause them a great deal of pain. More and more studies are looking at the phenotypic expression of autism in girls, but few have included a psychosocial perspective. However, taking into account certain biases, such as gender norms or stereotyped representations of autism, could explain this difference in diagnosis and make it possible to better identify and support women with ASD. The objective of this work is to observe, with a sociological approach, the behaviours and representations of women and men with ASD without ID. Eighteen semi-directed interviews were conducted, via videoconference, with men and women with ASD without ID, with the aim of answering these questions. Our thematic analysis revealed that both groups felt that they had an invisible disability, but that women had to live more with a sense of illegitimacy and internalized guilt in order to meet the expectations they had incorporated since their primary socialization. This pressure also leads them to feel more obliged than men to hide their particularities, resulting in more burn-out and suffering related to identity confusion. We observe that the secondary socialization of participants is also gendered at word as much as for the values, love life, or manifestations of suffering. Finally, the majority of women – the population affected by this underdiagnosis – seem to be inclined to admit that there may be differences between autistic manifestations in women and men.