Autism Spectrum Syndrome Analysis

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a condition where remarkable gender differences have been observed in the recent past. With that said, there has been few longitudinal studies that investigate gender/sex differences in individuals with ASD, and there is still much to learn about how and why ASD affects it affects the genders differently (May, 20__, p.1078). Perhaps the most important issue that arises when ASD is investigated through a gendered lens is that of the vast disparity in the diagnosis of ASD between boys and girls. As Harrop et al. (2014, p.766) note, there is a 4 to 1 average “male dominance” in the diagnoses of ASD in children, Harrop further notes that this ratio can rise to as high 8 to 1 when particular types of autism are being diagnosed. …show more content…
Further to this, on average girls with undiagnosed ASD would go much longer without receiving treatment than their much male counterparts, who are more readily diagnosed. This would obviously negatively impact their ability to lead a more normal, productive life in a wide variety of different categories.
It is hotly debated why this “male dominance” in the diagnosis of ASD exists. Some researchers propose that there is a “biological multifactorial liability/threshold” cause to this uneven sex ratio, while others suggest that the greater prevalence of hyperactivity in males with ASD may be the cause (Harrop et al. 2014, p.766; May, Cornish, and Rinehart 2014, p.1085). Despite these theories, to this point, there is no concrete explanation as to why this difference in ASD diagnoses