This Thunder Bay woman with autism, ADHD says she was misdiagnosed for decades and is now calling for change

Annie Kent says she felt like an alien when she was a child, and after decades of what she's calling misdiagnoses, the Thunder Bay, Ont., woman finally found out why.

Just over two years ago, she was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism.

"I always knew that there was something different — but as a very small child, of course, I lacked any words to try to explain how I felt internally," said Kent, who is celebrating her 40th wedding anniversary later this year.

Diagnosed with learning disabilities in her youth, she still always did well in school. She was admitted to university to study psychology at 16 and received her master's degree five years later.

"I had a few jobs that didn't last too long because it seemed that while I had a lot of theoretical knowledge, I didn't seem to have the ability to apply it in a real-life practical situation," she said.

"That kind of began my slide down into needing the mental health system for support — and along the way there, of course, I accumulated a lot of misdiagnoses because people at that time really didn't even consider the possibility that girls could have autism."

While researchers are making strides in bridging the gap in autism diagnoses for women, experts say it is still harder for professionals to detect neurodivergence — meaning the person's brain functions differently from the typical brain —among females.

"There's enough research out there showing that the later you're diagnosed, the more mental health issues you have as an adult," said Dr. Beth Kelley of Queen's University in Kingston, Ont. "It definitely is harder for women to get that diagnosis in childhood."

Kelley, an associate professor of psychology and psychiatry and neuroscience studies at Queen's, is involved with the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Network.

She said these are the main reasons girls struggle to get an autism diagnosis:

This has resulted in more women receiving a diagnosis later in life, which can yield mixed feelings. While some people accept the diagnosis and feel validated by it, others experience resentment after going so long without answers, Kelley said.

Kent suspected she had autism after reading stories online from other women with autism, especially those diagnosed later in life, and called the experience "validating."

More needs to be done to educate mental health clinicians about autism and give them the tools to confidently diagnose adults, Kelley said.

"We need to do more research and perhaps develop instruments to diagnose that are specifically for girls so that they can get diagnosed earlier," she said. "Also making people aware that your child may be camouflaging."