She Rocks the Spectrum

The Body Audit

What your body has been telling you — that doctors keep missing.

Autistic women are diagnosed late with autism. We're also diagnosed late — or never — with the conditions that travel with it. Migraines, GI problems, hypermobility, dysautonomia, endometriosis, autoimmune issues, sleep disorders, ADHD: all over-represented in autistic women, all routinely dismissed as anxiety or stress. This worksheet is a way to gather evidence. Not to self-diagnose — to walk into your next appointment with a clear pattern instead of a vague list.

Why this matters

• Women's pain is dismissed at every stage. Studies repeatedly show women wait longer for diagnosis, longer for pain treatment, and are more often told symptoms are psychological.
• Autistic interoception is its own factor. Many autistic women undersense or oversense internal signals, making it hard to describe symptoms the way clinicians expect.
• Co-occurring conditions cluster. One body can carry several at once. Identifying one often unlocks the rest.

Common co-occurring conditions

• Connective tissue & autonomic: Hypermobility (hEDS), POTS, dysautonomia.
• Hormonal & reproductive: Endometriosis, adenomyosis, PMDD, perimenopause hitting harder.
• Mental health & neurodevelopmental: ADHD, anxiety, depression, OCD, PTSD, eating disorders.
• Immune, gut, and pain: Autoimmune conditions, IBS, migraines, fibromyalgia-like pain.

Who this is for

• Women whose symptoms have been dismissed as anxiety, stress, or being female.
• Women who lose track of patterns between appointments.
• Women who suspect there is something else going on and need data, not just a feeling, to advocate.

What this is not

• Medical advice. This is observation, not diagnosis.
• Internet self-diagnosis. The point is to bring better questions to a clinician, not to skip them.

A gentle note: If anything you're tracking is acutely dangerous — chest pain, severe bleeding, suicidal thoughts, signs of stroke — don't fill out a worksheet. Get help. This document is for the slow, chronic things that have been overlooked, not the urgent ones.

Inventory

Evidence to bring with you. What your body has been saying.

Doctors give you ten minutes and a single chief complaint. Walk in with this filled out and you change the conversation. Don't try to remember everything from scratch — just the last thirty days. Use checkmarks, dates, or short phrases.

Quick key: Frequency: D = daily · W = weekly · M = monthly · O = occasional. Severity: 1 = annoying · 3 = disruptive · 5 = stops me functioning.

Sleep

Trouble falling asleep

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

Waking through the night

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

Wake unrested no matter the hours

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

Pain & Headaches

Migraines or chronic headaches

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

Joint pain or hypermobility

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

Unexplained body pain

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

Digestion

Constipation, diarrhea, or both

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

Reflux, nausea, or food sensitivities

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

Bloating disproportionate to meals

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

Hormonal & Reproductive

Severely painful periods

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

Cycle irregularity

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

Perimenopausal or PMDD-style mood drops

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

Energy & Autonomic

Standing-up dizziness, racing heart

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

Crashes after exertion

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

Temperature dysregulation (hot/cold)

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

Sensory & Skin

Skin reactions, rashes, itching

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

Sensory overwhelm worse than usual

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

New food, fabric, or smell intolerances

• Frequency (D / W / M / O): ____________________
• Severity (1-5) (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5): ____________________
• When did it start?: ____________________

Patterns

What to take to your appointment. Connect the dots.

Look back at your inventory. The point now is to surface three patterns you'd like a clinician to take seriously. A pattern is more useful than a list. 'My migraines spike the week before my period' gets attention; 'I get headaches' doesn't.

Conditions known to over-cluster in autistic women

• hEDS-spectrum disorders: joint pain, easy bruising, gut symptoms.
• POTS and dysautonomia: dizziness, racing heart, exercise intolerance.
• Endometriosis, adenomyosis, PMDD: disabling cycle pain.
• Autoimmune conditions: thyroid, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, celiac.
• ADHD: over 80% of autistic women in some samples are also ADHD.

1 — Pattern one I want to investigate

The pattern in plain words

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
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How long it's been a pattern
e.g. e.g. 6 months, 2 years
______________________________________________

What I've already tried

______________________________________________
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______________________________________________

What I want from this appointment

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
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2 — Pattern two I want to investigate

The pattern in plain words

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

How long it's been a pattern
e.g. e.g. 6 months, 2 years
______________________________________________

What I've already tried

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

What I want from this appointment

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

3 — Pattern three I want to investigate

The pattern in plain words

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

How long it's been a pattern
e.g. e.g. 6 months, 2 years
______________________________________________

What I've already tried

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

What I want from this appointment

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

After

What shifted. Notice what shifted.

After you've sat with this worksheet, return to these questions. Honest answers are more useful than tidy ones. You can come back and write more later — leave space.

1 — What has it cost you to be disbelieved?

Years of being told it's anxiety, you're sensitive, you're imagining it. Name one specific cost — financial, relational, professional, internal.

Your answer

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
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2 — What would listening to your body actually look like?

Not pushing through. Not earning the rest. Just — listening. What would change about your week if you let your body's data count as data?

Your answer

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
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3 — What's one symptom you've been minimizing because you've had it forever?

Forever isn't normal. Forever just means undiagnosed. Pick one.

Your answer

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
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4 — Who do you want on your medical team?

A doctor who knows autistic women. A specialist for one of the patterns you found. A friend who comes to appointments. Pick one to add this season.

Your answer

______________________________________________
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