title: Does gender influence core deficits in ASD? An investigation into social-communication and play of girls and boys with ASD.
abstract: Due to the predominance of boys diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), girls are rarely studied independently. Research specifically focusing on play and social-communication in girls with ASD is extremely varied. We were interested in whether girls with ASD demonstrated equivalent social-communication and play skills in early childhood relative to boys, using two measures focused on the specific quantification of these variables. We also examined whether the associations between developmental variables and social-communication and play differed by gender. Forty girls with ASD were individually matched to 40 boys based on ASD severity. Our results suggest that girls and boys were more similar than different, however they also raise questions about the potential differential associations between development and requesting ability in girls and boys with ASD.
authors.affiliation: Center for Autism Research and Treatment, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California Los Angeles, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA, charrop@mednet.ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Harrop
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shire
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gulsrud
authors.forename: Ya-Chih
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ishijima
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lawton
authors.forename: Connie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kasari
mesh_terms: D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010988:Play and Playthings; D012737:Sex Factors; D012919:Social Behavior