Social and Object Attention Is Influenced by Biological Sex and Toy Gender-Congruence in Children With and Without Autism.

The ASD girl group was relatively small, so findings for girls need cautious interpretation. Most autistic participants were verbally fluent and did not have intellectual disability, so results may not apply to more impaired children. Typical control groups were smaller than the autistic groups and had above average developmental quotients, which may limit generalizability. The groups were not matched on age or mental age; analyses adjusted for these differences, but baseline differences may still matter. The task was screen-based eye tracking, and prior work suggests screen looking may not match real-world social behaviour in autism. Children were assigned by biological sex only; gender identity and family toy exposure were not measured. Toy gender categories were based on older norms, and hands-with-toys was analysed as one area, so attention to hands versus objects could not be separated.

The article lists NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research support. The supplied text does not include an author conflict-of-interest declaration.

Do not conclude that using sex-matched toys will improve therapy. The study measured where children looked in videos and did not test an intervention or patient outcomes.