The role of gender in the perception of autism symptom severity and future behavioral development.
Philippine Geelhand, Philippe Bernard, Olivier Klein and 2 others
PMID 30976383WHAT IT FOUND
Laypeople rating written cases did not find girls’ autism-related behaviors less worrying or less likely to need advice.
They did predict boys would be seen as more atypical by peers at age 15.
Key findings
01When adults rated written vignettes of a 5-year-old with autism-related behaviors, the child’s gender did not significantly change ratings of worry or likelihood to seek professional advice.
02Boys were predicted to be perceived by peers as more atypical at 15 years old than girls, independent of symptom severity.
03Severity drove ratings: severe-moderate profiles were rated as more worrying and more likely to prompt professional advice than moderate-typical or typical profiles.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Participants were adults recruited online, not parents of a real child with autism, and they rated a fictitious child. The study used explicit ratings of written cases, so it may not capture implicit bias or real diagnostic decisions. The vignettes were based only on ADI-R core autism symptoms, not associated characteristics or comorbidities that may differ by sex. The sample was limited to US citizens and native English speakers. The paper does not state that participants were randomly assigned to conditions. The paper does not name one outcome as primary.
Declared interests
The funding section names Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS and an ARC-Consolidator grant. The publication types list research support from a non-U.S. government source. The supplied text does not include an author conflict-of-interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that gender bias is absent in autism recognition. The null gender effect came from explicit ratings of written cases by laypeople, not from real parents, clinicians, or diagnostic outcomes. The study also found that boys were expected to be seen as more atypical by peers at 15.