Why are there more males than females on this site?

Post Reply New Topic

the reason this is known is because it was first identified in boys. girls present the syndrome in other ways that are less noticeable at least in the society in which I was raised.

~snip~


I am certain some little guy having a melt down on the football field is more exposed than some girl having a holding her breath tantrum in crafts class when the other children have moved all her blocks placed 'just so'on the window sill.



and they think we have a hard time with 'theory of mind' and imagination!



exactly. I get along so easily with other Aspie women, which is shocking, to me.

That's a popular idea (especially in these circles) but I'm not sure about it. Certainly gender differences are a factor, because men are encouraged to and more inclined to "display" their traits/quirks in full view and are more likely to be noticed for them. But whether or not there are other genetic reasons for this still appears to me to be an open question.


Well, I guess "hard to imagine" is fairly vague. What I mean by that is that it wouldn't immediately occur to them, because the stereotypes associated with AS these days are typically male. Not that it would necessarily be beyond their imagination entirely.

Yes, I think there is a medical and social blindness when observing variance in females among their own gender. I suggest it is due to the overload on comparison as opposed to differences being spotted. I assume that gender stereotyping has also inhibited people looking at people, therefore female not given same attetion as male. Plus, males check out their competition very quickly in any paddock. AHHH..social construction ...too much cement!
Bonny

Yeah, it's not just autie/aspie girls and women that are ignored by the medical community. Concerns specific to us are not always taken seriously. And professionals wanting to focus their research on issues particular to women and girls are often marginalized in their field. How much incentive is there for a researcher who is hot on the trail of ASD to stop and say, now i want to focus on the female side. Career suicide.

I've wondered myself why boys are more likely to be dx'd with autism than girls. Especially since many of the presenting factors for autism are an exaggeration of typical male traits.
* lack of social skills
* poor language development
* singular obsessive like focus on something
* lack of coordination
* poor fine motor skills
* inability to stay focused/hyperactivity

wouldn't it be *easier* to dismiss these clues if the child in issue was a boy? wouldn't a girl who was bad in social groups, wasn't into crafts and was obsessed with numbers stand out much more dramatically? Unless there really *is* a reason why boys are more likely to be autistic. Otherwise it just comes down to the same ole same ole: girls are more likely to be ignored. Hell, just not having to have that extra pressure may be the reason girls cope better, so i'm not complaining. But i do find it very curious.

It is believed that there are a lot more males on the autistic spectrum in general (i.e. whether it be Asperger's, Kanner's autism etc) than there are females. I have read before that there are four times as many men as women on the autistic spectrum, but I have also read that there are six times the number of men to women. I don't know whether that is actually true i.e. that males are more susceptible to ASD's or whether it is just easier to diagnose in men because they generally tend to express the characteristics moreso than what women do etc, hence you can expect to see more males on this site than females.