Molecular Autism volume 7 , Article number: 10 Cite this article. Metrics details. Autism spectrum conditions autism are diagnosed more frequently in boys than in girls. The study describes a new technique that allows automated coding of non-verbal mode of communication gestures and offers the possibility of objective, evaluation of gestures, independent of human judgment. All children were assessed during two demonstration activities of Module 3 of ADOS-2, administered in Polish, and coded using Polish codes.
Children were also assessed with Polish versions of the Eyes and Faces Tests. Girls with autism tended to use gestures more vividly as compared to boys with autism during two demonstration activities of ADOS Girls with autism made significantly more mistakes than boys with autism on the Faces Test. All children with autism had high scores in AQ Child, which confirmed the presence of autistic traits in this group. The current communication skills of boys with autism reported by parents in SCQ were significantly better than those of girls with autism.
However, both girls with autism and boys with autism improved in the social and communication abilities over the lifetime. The number of stereotypic behaviours in boys significantly decreased over life whereas it remained at a comparable level in girls with autism. High-functioning females with autism might present better on non-verbal gestures mode of communication than boys with autism.
It may camouflage other diagnostic features. It poses risk of under-diagnosis or not receiving the appropriate diagnosis for this population.
Further research is required to examine this phenomenon so appropriate gender revisions to the diagnostic assessments might be implemented. It is diagnosed more frequently in boys than in girls, with the ratio widely cited [ 4 — 7 ]. However, the studies of the last two decades show a trend of decreasing male predominance. The recent studies show that this proportion may be lower: 2. Autism is a complex neurobiological condition, the aetiology of which has not been fully determined. The research so far has pointed out to the numerous genetic, neuroanatomical and immune abnormalities as well as neurotransmitter dysfunction [ 14 — 17 ].
