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The work of Grunya Efimovna Sukhareva preceded both Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger by nearly two decades.

She described intellectually capable but socially struggling boys in 1925 and girls in 1927.

The narrative of "nerds" and "anxious women" causing autism overdiagnosis crisis needs Sukhareva's erasure.

There is a narrative that autism diagnosis expanded dramatically in the early 21st century, including a population of people diagnosed in adolescence or later, articulate, intellectually capable, and often female.`1 As the story goes, those verbally fluent, socially anxious, and sensory sensitive people somehow “invaded” autism and are now creating an "overdiagnosis crisis."

The story only holds if you erase the history of autism, and especially if you erase the work of Grunya Efimovna Sukhareva, which preceded both Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger by nearly two decades. In 1925, Sukhareva clearly described older boys who were writing for a school newspaper in a great literary style, playing musical instruments, creating art, connecting deeply........

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