It seems that there are more autistic men than women. But this imbalance would in reality be linked to an underestimated diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in girls because their symptoms would be less easily identifiable. A study in May 2015 had already shown that boys with autism have more easily identifiable physical symptoms (sudden gestures, repeated movements…) than girls. A new study highlights more pronounced social and friendship difficulties in boys than in girls, which contributes to less discernment in the latter. At the origin of these works published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorderspsychology researchers from the Center for Autism Research and Education at University College London (UK).
Deeper friendships among girls
These researchers followed 46 adolescents aged 12 to 16, including 13 autistic girls, 13 non-autistic girls, 10 autistic boys and 10 non-autistic. They asked them to assign a mark from one to five depending on whether he/she recognized himself a little or a lot in 23 statements relating to different characteristics of thefriendship. They had to decide on themes such as camaraderie (for example, noting the sentence “My friend and I spend a lot of our free time together”), conflict (“My friend and I disagree on many subjects”), mutual aid (“My friend helps me when I have difficulties”), safety (“If I have a problem at school or at home, I can tell my friend about it”) or proximity (“If my friend were to move, I would miss him/her”). The main conclusions drawn from this survey are that girls with autistic disorders are more socially motivated and their friendships are more intimate than those of boys with the same disorders. In sum, the social experience of autistic girls is closer to that of non-autistic adolescents than that of autistic boys.
The researchers now wish to continue their work to determine whether these differences between boys and girls extend to the cognitive abilities of adolescents with autistic disorders, but also to understand the impact of such social and friendly differences on the welfare and the long-term mental health of young people with autism.
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