Friday, May 21, 2010
Franklin Hall B Level 4 (Philadelphia Marriott Downtown)
9:00 AM
Background:
To date, there has been very little research conducted on the female profile of autism, particularly at the high functioning end of the spectrum. This group has been largely overlooked in research. The focus upon the male profile has continued despite the absence of clear genetic or neuroanatomical evidence in support of the reported sex ratio of approximately 4:1. However, some clinical anecdotal evidence suggests that many HFA females are not currently diagnosed because the female phenotypical expression of autism is not congruent with the current male-centric conceptualization of autism.
Objectives:
To systematically examine the profile of HFA females and compare to HFA males and NT females in the areas of behaviour, personal care, verbal and non-verbal communication, conversation, social interactions, peer relationships, play and obsessive interests, at home and at school.
Methods:
Participants in the study comprised of parents and teachers of children and adolescents (aged between 5 and 18 years of age) with or without a diagnosis of HFA, AS or PDD-NOS without the presence of an intellectual disability. Parents were recruited from Australia, the USA, the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Teachers were only recruited from Australia. The parent group included 283 parents of HFA males, 82 parents of HFA females, 27 parents of NT males and 30 parents of NT females. Parents and teachers completed a questionnaire about their child or student. Results were analyzed utilising by tau-equivalence confirmatory factor analysis, discriminant function analysis, and MANOVA.
Results:
Males and females differed significantly on all investigated domains including behavior (χ²(66)=882.11, p<.001), personal care (χ²(57)=2413.85, p<.001), verbal and non-verbal communication (χ²(92)=858.79, p<.001), conversation (χ²(45)=550.73, p<.001), social interactions (χ²(45)=837.93, p<.001), peer relationships (χ²(11)=983.81, p<.001) and play (χ²(66)=411.77, p<.001). Evidence was also found for a camouflage effect whereby HFA females, in spite of underlying autistic symptomatology, presented in a similar fashion to NT females for the domains of behavior (χ²(66)=226.27, p<.001), verbal and non-verbal communication (χ²(93)=285.83, p<.001), conversation (χ²(45)=155.27, p<.001), social interaction (χ²(45)=284.80, p<.001) and play (χ²(70)=4605.49, p<.001). Gender was found to be significantly related to obsessive interests F(17,402)=14.69, p<.001). It was found that HFA females could be adequately distinguished from HFA males on the basis of imaginative, creative, unstructured play, self focused play on the computer or in rules based fantasy play, indirect social interactions over the phone and internet and poor independent care skills with 74% accuracy. It was also found that HFA females could be significantly distinguished from NT females on the basis of indirect, parallel play with peers, peer relationships, social withdrawal from peers and family and personal hygiene, presentation and grooming with 74% accuracy.
To date, there has been very little research conducted on the female profile of autism, particularly at the high functioning end of the spectrum. This group has been largely overlooked in research. The focus upon the male profile has continued despite the absence of clear genetic or neuroanatomical evidence in support of the reported sex ratio of approximately 4:1. However, some clinical anecdotal evidence suggests that many HFA females are not currently diagnosed because the female phenotypical expression of autism is not congruent with the current male-centric conceptualization of autism.
Objectives:
To systematically examine the profile of HFA females and compare to HFA males and NT females in the areas of behaviour, personal care, verbal and non-verbal communication, conversation, social interactions, peer relationships, play and obsessive interests, at home and at school.
Methods:
Participants in the study comprised of parents and teachers of children and adolescents (aged between 5 and 18 years of age) with or without a diagnosis of HFA, AS or PDD-NOS without the presence of an intellectual disability. Parents were recruited from Australia, the USA, the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Teachers were only recruited from Australia. The parent group included 283 parents of HFA males, 82 parents of HFA females, 27 parents of NT males and 30 parents of NT females. Parents and teachers completed a questionnaire about their child or student. Results were analyzed utilising by tau-equivalence confirmatory factor analysis, discriminant function analysis, and MANOVA.
Results:
Males and females differed significantly on all investigated domains including behavior (χ²(66)=882.11, p<.001), personal care (χ²(57)=2413.85, p<.001), verbal and non-verbal communication (χ²(92)=858.79, p<.001), conversation (χ²(45)=550.73, p<.001), social interactions (χ²(45)=837.93, p<.001), peer relationships (χ²(11)=983.81, p<.001) and play (χ²(66)=411.77, p<.001). Evidence was also found for a camouflage effect whereby HFA females, in spite of underlying autistic symptomatology, presented in a similar fashion to NT females for the domains of behavior (χ²(66)=226.27, p<.001), verbal and non-verbal communication (χ²(93)=285.83, p<.001), conversation (χ²(45)=155.27, p<.001), social interaction (χ²(45)=284.80, p<.001) and play (χ²(70)=4605.49, p<.001). Gender was found to be significantly related to obsessive interests F(17,402)=14.69, p<.001). It was found that HFA females could be adequately distinguished from HFA males on the basis of imaginative, creative, unstructured play, self focused play on the computer or in rules based fantasy play, indirect social interactions over the phone and internet and poor independent care skills with 74% accuracy. It was also found that HFA females could be significantly distinguished from NT females on the basis of indirect, parallel play with peers, peer relationships, social withdrawal from peers and family and personal hygiene, presentation and grooming with 74% accuracy.
Conclusions:
Males and females with HFA appear to express their autistic symptomatology in different ways, thus indicating that gender mediates the phenotypical expression of autism. As such it is likely that there are females in the community not being adequately identified. The current male-centric conceptualization of autism will need to be reviewed in the context of these results
See more of: Clinical Phenotype
See more of: Clinical Phenotype
See more of: Clinical & Genetic Studies
See more of: Clinical Phenotype
See more of: Clinical & Genetic Studies