Sex/Gender Differences in Camouflaging in Children and Adolescents with Autism.

The study compared groups at one time point; it did not follow children over time or test whether identifying camouflaging changes support needs. One neurotypical girl was removed from drawing-task analyses as an outlier, so the drawing results were based on fewer than the full 84 participants. Children with high autistic traits but no diagnosis were grouped with diagnosed children after the study, and most were already under assessment or known to school staff, so children who camouflage most successfully may have been missed. Verbal IQ was lower in the autism/high autistic traits group, so the drawing-task comparison adjusted for verbal IQ. The theory-of-mind task did not separate the autism/high autistic traits group from neurotypical children, so it may not have been sensitive enough for the compensatory camouflaging analysis. The drawing task had only moderate-to-good test-retest reliability in its validation, raising questions about how stable the reciprocity score is. The IQ difference for high versus low compensatory camouflaging was based on small numbers and was not statistically significant.

Do not conclude that girls with autism or high autistic traits are coping better or need less support. Their drawing-task reciprocity was similar to neurotypical girls, but their parent-reported autistic traits were similar to boys with autism or high traits, and the study did not follow children over time to see whether camouflaging affects support needs.