Boys get diagnosed with autism four times as often as girls, but why? Is it that male mental health is more prone to the condition, or are we just more on the lookout for autism in boys? According to new research, including some of the latest data from the International Society for Autism Research annual conference last week, a growing consensus is arguing that sex differences exist in genetic susceptibility, brain development and social learning in autism, which has major implications to how child wellness experts understand the disorder, and how it will be treated.
The results presented by Yale University researchers showed that being female appears to provide genetic protection against autism, while scientists at Emory University have completed preliminary work demonstrating that boys and girls with autism learn social information differently, causing divergent success in interactions with other people. When you look at this new data alongside previously published studies, you begin to paint a picture of how sex affects autism; via both natural and social factors. Experts urge that this should be taken into account in diagnosing autism, and in creating individualised treatment plans.
If your child’s wellbeing is affected by autism, this means they have a developmental disorder which is characterised by deficits in social skills and repetitive behaviours. Autism affects more than 1% of the population, being diagnosed more often in boys. However, girls often appear to have more severe autism. Overall, the ratio of autism diagnoses is roughly four boys to every one girl, but when you take intelligence into account the ratio becomes even more lopsided. In children who are more intelligent, boys with autism often outnumber girls eight or 10 to one.
According to Geraldine Dawson, the chief science officer of Autism Speaks, a research funding and advocacy group, sex is ‘such an important biological clue—why do we have this excess in boys?’ Sex differences in autism and related disorders still aren’t well understood, because they were relatively ignored until recently. Plus, studies often haven’t included enough girls to be able to reliably examine sex differences, or omitted girls from the data altogether, as only a small number of girls have the disorder.