New UK data shows autism and ADHD in girls are still being significantly underdiagnosed — often until masking becomes exhausting to keep up.
An ITV News investigation published on 30 July 2026 found that autism and ADHD are being significantly underdiagnosed in girls in the UK — with the gap even wider for South Asian children. The reason cited again and again: many girls simply don’t look like what people expect autism or ADHD to look like. They mask. They cope. They hold it together at school. And by the time anyone notices, it’s often because something has finally given way.
The pattern isn’t new, but the scale of it is becoming harder to ignore. A study published in the BMJ in February 2026 found something striking: the ratio of boys to girls diagnosed with autism in childhood is roughly 4 to 1 — but by age 20, that ratio equalises to close to 1 to 1. The girls were there all along. They just weren’t being identified at the same age, or in some cases at all, until adulthood forced the question.
The childhood male-to-female autism diagnosis ratio in the UK is around 4 boys to every girl. By age 20, it’s approximately even — evidence that girls aren’t less commonly autistic, they’re less commonly recognised. Source: BMJ study, February 2026.
A separate expert review, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in March 2026 and backed by 32 clinicians, academics and patients, found no evidence that ADHD is overdiagnosed in the UK — if anything, the opposite. Their conclusion was blunt: the real problem is that services “cannot adequately support” the people who need help, and alarmist rhetoric about overdiagnosis risks denying children and adults the care they need.
Masking is exactly what it sounds like — consciously or unconsciously copying the social behaviour around you well enough that the underlying difficulty stays hidden. It’s often something girls in particular become very good at, sometimes from a young age, well before anyone is thinking about assessment or diagnosis.
The effort involved in keeping this up all day is enormous — and it’s rarely sustainable forever. For many girls, what eventually brings things to a head isn’t the original difficulty itself, but the exhaustion, anxiety or shutdown that comes from masking it for years.
If your daughter is “fine” at school and falling apart at home, that isn’t a contradiction. It’s often the pattern.
This is the part that makes underdiagnosis in girls so persistent. Teachers understandably respond to what they can see, and a child who is quiet, compliant and getting her work done doesn’t usually trigger concern — even if she’s doing it at real personal cost. Meanwhile, difficulties that would be flagged quickly in a more visibly disruptive child get read instead as anxiety, perfectionism, or simply personality.
None of that means nothing is going on. It means the usual signals schools are trained to notice aren’t always the ones present.
If this sounds like your daughter — coping outwardly, struggling privately — a free 15-minute call with Lauren is a good way to talk through what you’re seeing, with no pressure to commit to anything.
Book a free 15-minute call with LaurenWhether or not a diagnosis is already in place, the same starting point helps: an independent look at how a child is actually managing, underneath whatever they’re presenting at school. The Education With Lauren Gap Analysis Assessment looks across:
Where a family is ready to pursue a formal diagnosis, Education With Lauren also supports access to consultant psychiatrist-led ADHD and autism assessment, delivered through our partnership with The ADHD Centre — including clinicians experienced in exactly this kind of harder-to-spot presentation.
“Education With Lauren has been utterly life changing for my daughter. Not only has she helped support her from being behind where she needed to be in education but to now ‘greater depth’. Lauren has also supported us and gone above and beyond with working with the school to support our daughter’s SEN needs.”
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A child who is coping isn’t the same as a child who is fine. Sometimes coping is the thing that needs noticing most.
Why are girls with autism or ADHD diagnosed later than boys?
Girls are more likely to mask — consciously or unconsciously copying social behaviour around them — which makes the usual signs harder for schools and clinicians to spot. UK data shows the childhood diagnosis ratio of 4 boys to 1 girl narrows to roughly 1:1 by age 20.
Is ADHD overdiagnosed in the UK?
No. A 2026 expert review involving 32 clinicians and academics found no evidence of overdiagnosis, concluding that services struggle to adequately support the people who already need help.
What does masking look like in a child?
Holding it together at school and struggling at home, being labelled “shy” or “sensitive” without further question, and closely copying peers’ behaviour and speech patterns are common signs, though every child presents differently.
This article is general information, not a diagnostic tool. Every child presents differently, and only a qualified clinician can make a diagnosis. If this raises questions about your own wellbeing or mental health, consider speaking with your GP.
“A child who is coping isn’t the same as a child who is fine.”