Spectrum: Autism Research News
The female autism conundrum


On 11 March, David Skuse and William Mandy presented evidence to support the notion that the tools available for diagnosing girls with autism show an inherent gender bias. They also shared interviews with a former patient to provide specific examples of the ideas they discussed.
Skuse is professor of behavioral and brain sciences at University College London, and Mandy, his colleague and frequent collaborator, is senior lecturer of clinical psychology.
Skuse and Mandy are interested in exploring and refining the current conventional definitions of autism — specifically how it manifests itself in girls. They argue that the apparent gender gap often reported in autism is overblown due to fundamental flaws in the way autism is diagnosed.
You can watch a complete replay of the webinar above.
Use the comments section below to submit questions we didn’t have time to discuss during the Q&A session or to pose follow-up questions for Skuse and Mandy.
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