AS male to AS female ratio...

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so ive been wondering what the official ratio for this is. i (think i) know that the reason that men are more likely to have AS than girls is that because men have the XY chromosone and because the AS gene is for the X chromosone, the male has no other X gene to back this up if it is faulty, whereas if a female has the AS gene they have an extra X chromosone, or a least thats what i read somewhere (and i feel it may be wrong). knowing this, by basic probability with basic genetic science, i'd estimate the ratio of AS males to AS females to be 75:25.

i just want to veriefy, is this correct? im sorry if i offend you for making naive assumptions but i just want to confirm. thanks.

From what I know its 4 out of every 5 are male (80%). Though I'm a girl

no, not really. You see, you are only figuring on known cases of AS. Also AS presents differently in girls than in guys so actual DX of girls is skewed.

I would say that for those who ARE DXed 75:25 might be right, but it is a limited sampling.

your math looks right. but that would mean for girls, both parents would need to have the gene for AS. me and my sis have diff dads, and she was diagnosed ADD(im almost 100% certain its AS) but looking at the type of person her dad is, I'd say your theory is pretty possible. you just need more documentation to prove it. such as surveying a lot of families.

That would imply that it's a sex-linked recessive, with the same pattern of inheritance as color-blindness.

That would make logical sense. It is further consistent with my family (my mother is NT, but my father is an Aspie).

However, this theory assumes a single gene. Currently, there are several different theories about the cause, but if the cause is genetic, we're relatively certain that it's very complicated, and further, linked to other chromosomes, which would be a serious flaw in your hypothesis.

Then there's the possibility of environmental causes. Then there's the theory that the reason there are more males on the spectrum is because it involves exaggerations of certain masculine traits. Then there are the people who believe it's caused by vaccines, and if that's the case, then it's probably the protective effect that estrogen has against mercury.

Whatever your theory, we have higher testosterone, on average, than NTs-- hence the relatively high rates of precocious puberty. Perhaps it's just that most females won't present with such high levels of testosterone even if it's exceptionally high.

I'm really not sure, what the ratio would be.

Dandelion's right--several genes have been associated with ASD so far, and more may be discovered. I don't know whether these genes tend to be dominant, recessive, or one of those weird types that's combinatory or additive.

I would not be surprised if scientists discovered that the autistic spectrum, ADHD, Tourette's, NVLD, and SPD shared similar genes. They seem to co-occur a lot in families. Although my family may not be typical, we have two undiagnosed parents with different types of sensory processing and attention abnormalities, one of whom has benefited from a stimulant and probably has ADD. There is also a child with Asperger's and hyperlexia (my brother), and another with NVLD and inattentive ADD (myself). There is also a good deal of depression and anxiety in the family, which has hit all members of my immediate family, and the extended family includes people with fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue, Bipolar Disorder (IIRC), and Borderline Personality Disorder. However, I don't know if there's a genetic link between these personality problems and the developmental disabilities in the family, or if it's just a coincidence.

"Whatever your theory, we have higher testosterone, on average, than NTs-- hence the relatively high rates of precocious puberty. Perhaps it's just that most females won't present with such high levels of testosterone even if it's exceptionally high."
High testosterone tends to go with higher aggression and sex drive. There's certainly people here with these characteristics, but there seem to be even more with the opposite. Where did you find this information, Dandelion? It's surprising, and I'd like to read more.

Re: the sex ratio, the figure I've read is 1 female: 4 males, but of course females are underdiagnosed, so it's probably more even. Interestingly, the ratio is supposed to be similar in ADHD among children, but in adults, it's almost 1:1. It's controversial whether this change represents real interactions between gender and development in ADHD, or whether the ratio is really even and women are just easier to diagnose than girls. If the autistic spectrum is anything like ADHD, the gender ratio may also change over the lifespan. Do you guys know anything about this?

take the "official" ratio based on who is diagnosed.

take into consideration the less obvious presentation in women, and the possibility of diagnostic bias (that doctors assume therefore that it is less likely in women, and don't look for it).

take about a fifth of the women that have eating disorders but aren't diagnosed with an ASD and add them in.

take some women diagnosed with bipolar and BPD whose diagnoses don't seem to fit quite right, and add them in.

in other words, i don't think anyone really knows.

"While 1.0 per cent of the adult population had an autism spectrum disorder, the rate for men was higher (1.8 per cent) than for women (0.2 per cent). This was in line with studies among child populations which show higher rates amongst boys."

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/164936.php

Same as the "LFA" one, which is 4/5 to 1.

The problems people spoke of were the extreme ratios of like 15/18 to 1, but this was because of a lack of awareness and misdiagnosis of females.

An interesting line of research is the link between Vitamin D deficiency and autism, estrogen has positive effects on calcitriol levels, but testosterone does not,which would also explain sex-based differences. Googling vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is associated with autism in children. will give you 132,000 pages of results. Some researchers are saying light-skinned people should take at least 1,300 IU a day, dark-skinned at least 3,100 IU a day. The rapid increase in people with ASD parallels the medical advice to avoid sun-exposure and use sun-block. To get into the toxic range with vitamin D 50,000 IU need to be taken for months, given the low cost of Vitamin D, the potential risk to benefit ratio and the high safety margin, it seems a no-brainer to me. I've been taking 2,000IU a day for about 6 months and seem to feel much better and the more annoying ASD symptoms are either much reduced or in remission.

According to rdos, there's as many BAP males & females - but diagnosed females score 10 points higher than diagnosed males, which accounts for the different diagnosed ratio.

I think the symptoms are less obvious / negative in girls. A quiet man with odd body language & eye contact is seen as more threatening than a woman with the same. Girls also tend to get more training in socializing, empathy etc from friends & family than boys do.

I sure hope there's more AS girls.