females/males ratio in wrongplanet

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Third, and most likely possibility:

The ratio on this site (which is a sample) is not representative (for whatever reason) of the ratio in the actual AS population.

I'm surprised you overlooked this one. For someone who presented an option (1 of 2 no less) denigrating statisticians, you made the rookie mistake of assuming that this website contained a representative sample. Sorry if I offend- I just get ticked off by the attitudes many people on here have of professionals. Are they omniscient? No. Did they spend many years in school focusing on one specialty, which it's safe to assume they know more about than the vast majority of people? Yes.

^^ true but i was asking for explanation of why this website is not representative ...reread again my questions .

I think also there's more pressure on girls not to be blunt the way boys are. As a kid, I went for silence, because my folks stamped down on any sign of 'tactlessness' from me. Now I just say it anyway, but most of the time I remember to think first.

I've also found that people are more likely to suspect a learning difficulty where boys are concerned anyway. My parents were concerned for years about my bro's hyperactivity, but the fact that I had no friends, no hand-eye co-ordination and no 'common' sense, but knew more than half of Shakespeare's plays word-for-word didn't trouble them even slightly.

About the proposed gender difference. I'm absolutely certain that there is a 1:1 relation between male and female Aspies. The professionals claiming otherwise might have whatever qualifications, but without any real, hard, data they are just opinions from their skewed subject selection. WP might not be totally representative of the Aspie-population as a whole, but then psychiatric patient groups and psychology-students aren't either.

A few observations from Aspie-quiz makes it very likely that the ratio is 1:1:
1. Answers to key questions in the quiz mostly do not differ significantly between males and females.
2. Explained variance is basically the same for different axises when analysed separately for males and females. This method use the entire population, and not just diagnosed Aspies and thus does not suffer from selection bias.
3. Female aspies that have diagnosis on average always score higher on Aspie score and lower on NT score.
4. Self-identified female Aspies also score higher than males.
5. Overal scores for the total population of males and females in the quiz is similar.

In the last stable versions I've also tried to make the explained variance for NT-axis to be identical when males and females are analysed separately. The messure to achieve this was to have more than the justified amount of social relation questions. Before this the NT axis had higher loading in the female population. IOW, when criteria is focused too much on social problems, like in the DSM, the results is a skewed gender ratio with more males than females receiving dx. This action also reduced the score difference between self-identified female and male Aspies to just a few points.

Last edited by rdos on 12 Aug 2007, 10:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

Another factor might be sports.

I had no interest in team sports or sports that required quick reflexes or good hand-eye coordination. So I can swim and run, but not catch a ball. That's not considered weird for a girl, but a disinterest in sports seems like it might raise a red flag for parents and teachers of boys. Or simply cause the boy much more grief from his peers.

Along with what madmogs was saying... boys' learning difficulties are also more likely to cause trouble in the classroom. A smart and quirky girl who has learned to be quiet rather than blunt or complain about any given difficulty does not pose any hardship to anybody and will not be as likely to be evaluated by a professional for learning differences.

Exactly. The samples used in these studies contain students that received their dx for causing disruption in schools. It is even part of DSM that there must be significant impairment in functioning to receive the dx. Therefore, the samples that the studies of gender differences are built upon are not random or representative. They reflect the people on the spectrum that is disruptive in school or that cannot cope.

I was a teacher's pet until junior high. After that, it was less acceptable to break out of the pack as far as required coursework or ability. I think, in grade school, the teachers were interested in the in-class demonstration that I understood the coursework and would either give me something more to do, or let me do my own thing, once that was achieved.

Is there a difference between boys and girls in age of onset?

I keep getting "You are very likely neurotypical" on the Aspie quiz.

Tim

I was under the impression that "age of onset" is just a matter of perception when it comes to autistic spectrum disorders. The child is what he is from before birth onward. The differences just tend to become more apparent at later points in life, depending on the severity.

I would indeed suppose that girls' AS would be noticed later in life or not at all, on average.

It is rather hard to say. I think a lot of females might possibly find out when looking more into their ASD child's behavior... which is when I started thinking about it actually. But I also think the 10:1 ratio might be rough to go by. There are a lot of male and females self-diagnosed as well as actually diagnosed. It is also hard to tell because the % of diagnosed people, usually is just somebody's opinion as to whether or not they have it. I would almost trust the self-diagnosis more, at times, lol. The people who figure up the stats do not have the undiagnosed cases to factor in, they don't have the access to them, and I'm sure there are plenty of diagnosable people out there in general that cannot get a diagnosis for one reason or another.

I don't really look much at those statistics, because it is so hard to say. A parent of a boy who is acting up in class (such as my son) is more likely to go get the kiddo checked out than the parent of a child who just appears to be shy around others, or extremely well-mannered. Which is why I was never checked out. But that leaves a whole group of people not being factored in at all. They can't even actually say how many people do have it, because they do not know, they can only estimate what they think the number MIGHT be, but doesn't that kind of throw off the ratio right there?

At least the results are consistent

Either you have developped very good coping-strategies and answer according to those or you are actually neurotypical and misdiagnosed.

The parenting forum does attract mothers. In the other forums, I have always felt somewhat outnumbered by the guys. Look at the percentages on "Aspie Affection", where it is all Aspie.

Aspie Affection wouldn't exactly be expected to reflect the gender ratio. First, Aspie females seems to have an easier time getting an partner (if they want one), and second aren't guys always outnumbering girls in dating-type forums?

I'm a female with AS and my AS specialist thinks that the stats are wrong - that there are a lot of undiagnosed females out there with AS due to the fact that it manifests differently in females. Not to mention females (generally speaking) have more pressure to be socialized from a much earlier age making it more difficult to detect. I went undiagnosed for 25 years because of it.

Guys will always outnumber gals on any dating forum. There are more male babies born than females. I saw a report recently that the powers that be are worried for America's future because there are way more boys now and not enough girls to go around once they reach maturity. I used to work in the nursery at hospital and yes there were 2-3 times the boys than girls. At a recent company picnic almost all of the kids of my co-workers were males. This trend in births has been going on for over 2 decades now.

A person can be both blunt and quiet. My family could tell you that. When I feel comfortable enough to speak I am usually blunt and to the point and usually stick my foot in mouth. Around people I do not know or do not like and even ones I am really attracted to I am painfully shy and will not speak hardly a word. When like visiting a new church I will not go up to people and introduce myself.