17550
Exploring the Developmental Social Profile of Females with ASD
ASD prevalence rates rose 63% among females from 2002-2008 resulting in a marked increase in adolescents and young women with ASD today. However, studying girls with ASD remains a gap area (IACC, 2010) and many studies preferentially enroll males, who, due to a 4:1 increased prevalence, dominate the participant pool for research. We need more information about the heterogeneity of biological and behavioral features of ASD in females to determine whether the course of ASD is similar and if current interventions are appropriate for females (Koenig &Tsatsanis, 2005; Rivet & Matson, 2011). Some findings suggest boys are more socially impaired during childhood while girls are more impaired in adolescence (McLennan, Lord, & Schopler, 1993), which may be related to the increased complexity of social norms and expectations during adolescence (McLennan, Lord, & Schopler, 1993) and gender differences in interpersonal relationships. Continuing to study primarily male participants limits our understanding about ASD and the generalization of findings. Our work addresses this critical barrier to progress in the field by targeting adolescent females with ASD.
Objectives:
Our objective is to identify the developmental social profile of females with ASD in relation to their typically developing peers. We explore the similarities and differences in the social profile of adolescent females with without ASD, critical points in female social development necessitating further investigation, and the feasibility of conducting our protocol with an expanded age range sample.
Methods:
We employ qualitative research methods (Maxwell, 2005; Creswell, 2007) to explore the phenomenon of the social experience of females with ASD in relation to their peers. Participants include adolescent females (ages 14-19 years old) with and without ASD and their parents, resulting in four participant groups. Focus groups occur in waves, followed by analysis, and additional waves of groups in order to establish “saturation” (Charmaz, 2006) of a grounded theory of the social experience of adolescent females with and without ASD. We record, transcribe, and analyze each transcript for emerging codes (basic ideas) that come directly from the transcripts using microanalysis, with themes (reoccurring broader concepts) developing as they are identified and synthesized (Corbin & Strauss, 2008).
Results:
Findings indicate both similarities and differences for adolescent females with and without ASD in terms of their social activities and interests, friendships, self-perception, and perspectives and procedures for self-care. A preliminary model illustrates as females progress, social norms and expectations become complex, with expectations for increased independence and reliance on peers and decreased support from families and friends. This becomes more challenging for girls with ASD, who rely significantly more on family members to coordinate and facilitate social interactions and help with self-care.
Conclusions:
We hypothesize, based on our findings, that “barriers” are the social norms and expectations at critical points, which results in greater social difficulties and a widening “gap” in the social experiences of girls with and without ASD. Understanding the social experiences of females with ASD from a developmental perspective informs social competence interventions, including what, how, and when interventions may be the most effective.