Is Asperger's Really More Common in Boys than Girls?

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I personally think that the number of boys and girls with Asperger's is the same. I just believe that in boys it is more disruptive and noticable. Boys tend to more aggressive and so the traits get more attention from educators.

Also, Autism tends to magnify male traits. A woman acting more male is OK and considered acceptable in today's society. A male acting more male is further out of the normal behavior spectrum of behavior and sticks out more.

Am I alone in this belief?


Best,

Idaho Aspie
www.AllThingsAspergers.com

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt52565.html

I've read a few articles saying basically what you said--it shows up differently in girls and not as easily detected.

Another curious question would be do women with AS get along better with guys? It's true for me. Not necessarily true for all, but maybe most--who knows. hmmm.

Well, if you look around this section of the board you'll see a poll asking if people are male or female. At the time I placed my vote males outnumbered females 2:1.

Ed Almos

I think there's an equal amount; but it's hard to tell in girls.

Since it doesn't cause us a problem socially; we (girls) don't try to identify it as a problem.

For men, it causes you guys to have problems with girlfriends and relating to other people...which can be detrimental to your well-being. As such, I think it's wonderful that there are so many more guys on this site than girls. It means you guys are seeking both an understanding a method to vent your frustration.

It's all theories that postulate it's just as prevalent in females as it is in males. Clinically, the manifestation of the disorder should be the same, i.e., social impairment and narrow/focused interests; males are known to be more aggressive than females, and the theory states that this is why males are picked up to a greater extent than females (disruption in the classroom for example).

Autism is usually picked up without too many people being missed, and males outnumber females there 5 to 1. If Asperger's equates to "mild" autism, one can say that the ratio will transpose over Asperger's just the same.

I think boys are more likely to get diagnosed, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're more in numbers.

Logically, there will be about the SAME number of both, but female brains are structured differently, and females have less need of the areas where most autistics are weak. Females are almost EXPECTED to have some sensitivity problems, problems with math, spatial skill problems, and distinct preferences and requirements. They may also be treated better to prevent such things.

So I think it is the same number, but most females just figure "girls will be girls" to change a popular saying of boys.

BTW if a boy seems like a girl, it is wierd, etc... If a girl seems like a boy, it is usually FINE as long as it doesn't get to where she is trying to appear to be one like 100% of the time.

I read a scientific article that is stating aspergers in girls run through different nerve pathways, may have a different gene sequence, things of that nature.

I hope to find the article again someday.

I personally feel it is equal as well, and that syptoms in boys are outward and in girls are more interalized and thus not noticed for what they are.

I don't think it is any more or less damaging to either gender's experience in life.
I do think boys get the worse side of the treatment. Since they are more noticeable outsiders and CARING adults are most likely to take assertive action on something they do not themselves understand.

Bunch of monkeys in a bucket.

I've seen it somewhere... (in Atwood maybe?) that female Aspie's aren't as visible because a group of boys tend to segregate the "weird one' and a group of girls will have some who will "nurture" the weird one by taking her "under their wing". I think the idea was girls will often get support from an NT that boys don't, in learning to recognize some social signals. We've all seen girls who were ostracized as well, but I think the basic idea was valid.

In my experience, female Aspie's tend to be much more social than males, much less aggressive, and tend to demonstrate their Asperger's by engaging in horrible relationships with men poorly suited to them, one after the other. They are also often victims of assault, such as date rape, because they don't recognize the danger signs NT females do.

I think we're roughly equal in the population, but that something on the "X" chromosome helps mask some of the more obvious aspects. Which would explain why males, with a "Y" chromosome are more easily diagnosed.

it could be, to an extent, a symptom of recent psychiatric trends. There's a book called 'the War against Boys', which postulates that boys are seen as a 'problem' in general, and are medicated at school to a far greater degree than girls, for a host of A's, H's, and D's. (hows that for a run on sentence?..

This is hardly new, medicating kids goes back at least to the 19th Century; when laudanum (a mix of alcohol and opium) was used to keep kids quiet. Instead, it made them laudanum addicts.

Also, as each 'new' symptom is diagnosed and added to the 'book' (the index psychiatrists use, can't remember the name), there's likely a tendency to 'overdiagnose', for whatever reasons.

In a few years, more accurate data should be available. I really don't know, I've always thought it was a boys-only thing (which is why this place is so instructive).

Well, some behaviour in male autistics is ACCEPTED and even EXPECTED in females. Things like certain desires, verbal skills, emotions, meltdowns. Also, females are SUPPOSED to have almost like one brain, with abilities diffused on both sides. So certain problems wouldn't be as likely to be apparent anyway. I think those two things could explain almost all of the difference.

women has two x gene to protect them
x gene is stabilization
but man is one x gene and one y gene

I think the proportion of AS girls to NT girls could be equal to the proportion of AS boys to NT boys, but I don't think the number of AS girls could be equal to the number of AS boys.