Celebrating Neurodivergent Women in Business

Autistic neurodivergent women are owning the business world, and the reason why is not surprising.

People with the autistic neurotype can present innovative problem-solving, deep focus, unparalleled attention to detail, and incredible dedication to specific interests. This is why recognition and accommodation for autistic workers is so important. In an inclusive work environment, productivity and success is bound to thrive. 

Many autistic business owners are including their neurotype within their instagram bios and business descriptions, owning the strengths that come with neurodiversity. Autistic women in particular are taking the advocacy route, utilising their businesses platforms to express the difficulties many neurodivergent women face along the road to an official diagnosis. Prior research proposes that it is more common for males to harbour the autistic neurotype, however new studies are beginning to disagree. Women and people assigned female at birth present neurodiversity in a very different way to their male counterparts, and the official autism assessment criteria, otherwise known as the DSM-5 criteria, is significantly biased towards the conventional male features. The autistic neurotype can go unseen in many women and girls, making it more common for diagnosis to occur later in life. According to a report of Australian medicare data in 2022, around 80 percent of females remain undiagnosed by the age of 18, and against males, proportionally more older females are being diagnosed. 

If women were identified as autistic earlier in life they could have the chance to learn about their neurotype and instigate accommodations to better thrive in the environment around them.  

When Victoria plunged into its two years of COVID hard lockdowns, everything came to a standstill for photographer Leah Ladson. With two children homeschooling, and a newborn baby, Ladson was overstimulated and in a state of deep exhaustion. Ladson’s photography business closed bookings and Ladson focused on her kids, her home life, and her mental health. Ladson felt like she was in a depression-like state, but deep down knew it was something different. 

“I didn't know enough about myself or my brain. I needed a break and more accommodations. I wish I had known that because it would've been a very different story.”

When a relative was identified with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, Ladson felt an alignment to their traits and sought out a diagnosis of her own. Finally in December of 2022, at the age of 37, Ladson was formally identified as autistic.

“It was like a weight off my shoulders, like the final puzzle piece has kind of been found,” Ladson explains. “I'd always felt a little bit on the outer, my whole life…  I've always known that I think really differently to other people.” 

After being officially identified as autistic, Ladson reevaluated her state of mind and looked back on her past. It was a “massive awakening for want of a better word, and you change so much and there's such a massive shift,” Ladson exclaims. It was only now that she realised the depression-like state she had been stuck in for the past two and a half years was actually autistic burnout. 

Autistic burnout is characterised as an intense state of mental, emotional, or physical exhaustion. Some people who experience autistic burnout note long-term exhaustion, increased sensitivity to stimuli, social withdrawal, and sometimes loss of function.  A severe burnout can typically last for three months or more. In Ladson’s case, she had been experiencing this for over two years. 

“I knew it wasn't depression, but it was something similar, I was just exhausted and overstimulated all the time,” Ladson says. “I didn’t wanna go out, didn’t wanna do anything.” 

It’s important to note the cause of these burnouts. Autistic advocate Dasha Kolesik states burnout or social exhaustion is a much-too-common occurrence for autistic people.  In an instagram post to the account Whileyouwonder, Kolesik explains this is due to the constant need for neurodivergent people to “Navigate a world designed for neurotypicals. Processing social cues, masking, and managing sensory input can be draining.”  

Kolesik, is an identified Autistic ADHDer, an accredited Autism Assessor, Speech Pathologist, and founder of neurodiversity affirming allied health practice Say Hooray. Kolesik agrees that autistic identification can be a liberating experience for many undiagnosed individuals, and may provide the opportunity to alleviate the health impacts of masking and autistic burnout.

Women in particular are more active maskers. Kolesik explains that this is due to the influence that society has on the female role. “That area of influence does mean that women camouflage or mask a lot more than men do. So, that masking can mean that the experience of the autistic neurotype is really quite internalised for them [women].” Such internalisation makes it much harder for women to seek out and gain a formal identification, increasing cause for later in life diagnosis.

After her formal diagnosis, Ladson was able to re-evaluate her situation, stating, “not until now can I look back and be like, yeah, that was really, really hard for me.” Looking back Ladson aso says, “I don't mind being diagnosed late in life, but I wish I had known before I had kids because I really struggled in the newborn phase of all my kids' lives.”  Another common story for autistic women is consistent misdiagnosis. Many autistic traits present similar to other disorders such as anxiety, OCD, and depression. In Ladson’s case, she believed to be grappling with post natal depression after the birth of each of her three children. Had she known her true neurotype she may have been able to accommodate her needs more effectively. 

“I stopped working completely. I just didn't have the capacity physically or mentally to work.”

The gravity of autistic burnout and the impact it had on Ladsons business was immense. Halting work for two years and feeling constantly overstimulated. “You sort of start to get overstimulated with noise or light. And pre-diagnosis, I would've just let it keep going and gotten angry and snapped. Had a fight with  whoever was around me, whoever was in my war path.

“Since being diagnosed, I feel like only in the last couple of weeks I’ve really started to make a shift in feeling better and getting more energy. So I hope that it continues on an upward rise and I can start to work more.” 

Ladson is now utilising her autistic neurotype as her ‘super power’, saying “I've always known that I've had  a different outlook to other photographers  and I genuinely don't compare myself to anybody else.

‘I see things in people that they don't often even see in themselves. So I love bringing that out of people in photo shoots.  I definitely think that that's my superpower in trying to empower women.” 

Since reopening bookings for her business, Ladson has implemented multiple accommodations to ensure she is kind to herself and her mental health. “Socialising burns me out so I'll shoot on the first day, I can do one shoot, and then I'll need the next two days to recover,” says Ladson. “I will probably never work full time again and that's not a bad thing, it’s just what I need.”

Founder of digital marketing agency The Digital Picnic, Cherie Clonan, was also formally identified as autistic late in life. Clonan notes the positive impact formal identification had on her life, “Life got so much better when I learnt how to make autistic accommodations in my marriage, and autistic accommodations as I navigate parenthood.” 

Since being identified, Clonan has dedicated her personal instagram account to autistic advocacy, posting about her experience as an autistic female in a neurotypical world. Clonan places a lot of emphasis on the discrimination many autistic people face, highlighting the need for “radical acceptance.”

“Even being the autistic CEO of an autistic-founded company hasn’t spared me from discrimination at work,” says Clonan. 

Ladson and Kolesik alike have both dedicated their next steps to autistic advocacy. Kolesik has recently founded the organisation While You Wonder, which is a dedicated space for people to self-identify their neurotype in a safe, neuro affirming space. While You Wonder “Provides information about the autistic neurotype from an autistic lens and from a neurodiversity affirming perspective…  we've had a lot of positive feedback,” says Kolesik. 

Beside the success of While You Wonder, Kolesik is a part of Australia’s first Autism Strategy Advisory Committee in South Australia. “I feel really honoured to be a part of that, which is an Australian first,” says Kolesik. “Hopefully there'll be more to follow.”

Ladson is looking at possibly holding information sessions about the autistic neurotype for women and children. “I'd love to do more raising awareness for neurodivergent women in particular. I could speak about it forever and yeah, I just find it so easy sharing my story.”

In terms of spreading awareness Ladson says, “there's still such massive room for improvement. So I dunno what it looks like, but I'd love to somehow be involved in that.”