MOTHERHOOD AND AUTISM

FEMALE INVISIBILITY IN DIAGNOSIS AND CARE

Abstract

Autistic women experiencing motherhood face specific challenges, often exacerbated by processes of invisibility and stigmatization. It is common for the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in these women to occur only after the identification of the condition in their children, highlighting a pattern of neglect regarding their subjective and identity-related needs. This article aims to investigate the experiences of autistic mothers with autistic children, highlighting the challenges arising from literature based on male diagnosis. The research is characterized as a narrative literature review, analyzing articles published between 2020 and 2025 in the PubMed, SciELO, and Google Scholar databases, using the descriptors: "female autism," "atypical motherhood," "autistic mothers," and "atypical mothers." The results indicate that these women face a cycle of neglect, in which care directed to their children is not accompanied by attention to the mother’s mental health and subjective well-being. The absence of support networks, institutional ableism, and the idealization of motherhood contribute to psychological overload. It is concluded that there is an urgent need to break paradigms that render invisible the multiple ways of existing on the spectrum, especially in contexts of care and motherhood.