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The Self in Girls and Women with Autism Spectrum Disorder
“Know thyself” - Socrates A central focus in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) research and clinical practice are core challenges in social reciprocity and social interaction - the interpersonal. The self in ASD - the intrapersonal - has been paid relatively little attention. This article...
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What Happened to All the Females with Autism Spectrum Disorders?
The concept of an autistic disorder is generally accepted to have originated with Leo Kanner and his classic 1943 account of ‘Autistic Disorders of Affective Contact’ (Kanner, 1943). He described 11 children with what would now be regarded as severe autism. Three of these 11 were girls, and as...
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A Support Group for Parents of Tween Girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder
The gender imbalance among those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is 4 to 1 boys to girls. When considering those diagnosed with ASD without intellectual disability, the imbalance is even greater - 7:1 (Skuse & Mandy 2015). One consequence of this gender imbalance is that parents...
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The Unique Interpersonal Demands for Women with ASD: Implications for Gender-Specific Supports for Adults
Over the past several years, there has been increased interest in gender differences within autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and how these differences impact initial diagnosis as well as treatment across the lifespan. According to recent research conducted by Kreiser and White (2014), females...
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Empowering Young Women with ASD to be Successful in the Workplace
Like their neurotypical peers, young women with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) truly desire to be independent. To seek her potential and independence, most young women with ASD need to work for money, even if it is for 15 hours a week. Women transitioning from school to adulthood need to stretch,...
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Twin Study Suggests Girls are Protected From Autism Risk
A comparison of autism-like behaviors in nearly 10,000 pairs of fraternal twins suggests that girls are somehow protected from the disorder1. The findings, published 19 February in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may partly explain why autism is four times more common in boys...
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A Girl’s Eye View: Understanding and Supporting Families and their Daughters with Autism Spectrum Disorders
About a year ago, when doing research for my recently published book Girls Growing Up on the Autism Spectrum (Jessica Kingsley Publishers), I stumbled upon a Yahoo! group, “Autism in Girls” (Autism_in_Girls-subscribe @yahoogroups.com). With approximately 1500 members, and a core group of active...
