, April 2 -- As the world observes Autism Awareness Day on Thursday, experts are highlighting an important but often overlooked issue: many women and girls on the autism spectrum are diagnosed later in life than their male counterparts.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects people of all genders, but long-standing diagnostic frameworks and social expectations have historically made it harder to identify in females, reports GulfNews.

Experts note that the delay in diagnosis is not due to autism being less common in women, but because autism often presents differently in females, and women may develop coping strategies to adapt to social expectations, a phenomenon known as masking. These differences often lead to misdiagnoses, such as de...