Asperger's In Girls and the Issue Of Gender In Autism

Asperger's is a form of autism that is becoming more widely recognized and understood as a condition for both children and adults, but an area still posing many questions is the issue of Asperger's in girls. Gender is a hot topic of debate, not just in Asperger's but all forms of Autism Spectrum Disorders, because there appears to be such a divide between males and females when it comes to developing the conditions. A study in England in 2009 showed that 1.8% of males showed signs of ASDs while the number of females was just 0.2%. This significantly small percentage suggests that the Asperger's in girls is particularly rare and supports claims that this is a predominantly male condition, however this is a step up from the original perceptions, which assumed that girls could not develop the illness at all. Because of this definite difference between the genders, genetics has been cited as being one of the most likely causes of Asperger's - likely not certain because no definitive cause has yet been identified. There are also suggestions that males develop the disorder more readily because they are more susceptible to organic damage from illness and hereditary conditions. While these theories hold some weight, there is another aspect of the issue of Asperger in girls to consider. Perhaps it is the case that instead of not having the disorder, they are simply just not diagnosed with it and perhaps there are a similar, unknown number of females suffering without parents or doctors realizing. Some would suggest that the characteristic traits of the condition are more noticeable in the disruptive behaviour of boys, or that the viewpoint of Asperger's as a male disorder stops people from testing girls. In short, Asperger's in girls is an issue that is far from being appreciated because while genetic research may favour the male bias, we are no closer to understanding the true cause and girls across the world could be wrongly ignored.