In their own words: The impact of subtle language and communication difficulties as described by autistic girls and boys without intellectual disability.

The sample was small and purposive, with twelve children from mainstream schools in the North West of the United Kingdom, so the themes cannot be generalised. The study focused on language and communication and did not prioritise other autism features, such as rigidity or social cognition, that can also affect function, relationships and emotion. Self-report may be limited in autism, and the children's accounts were not compared systematically with typically developing transcripts. Girls gave richer and more reflective accounts than boys, and one female cohort was older than any male participant, so sex/gender differences are not clear. The interviewer had an existing relationship with eight children and was part of the analysis team, and the paper notes the interviewer had a recognised bias in identifying impact of language and communication difficulties in autism. Parental contributions were noted but not included in the thematic analysis. Some children had co-occurring diagnoses, including ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, sensory processing disorder, anxiety or depression, and these were not screened out. Normal range intellectual function and basic structural language for the advertised female group were determined by researcher observations, parental report and mainstream curriculum access, rather than the performance IQ data available for the first group. The analysis team were not blind to the focus on language and communication difficulties, although an autistic researcher and credibility checks were used.

Do not read the themes as evidence that a treatment works. The study interviewed twelve children and did not test whether any strategy improved communication, functioning or emotional well-being.