Could gender differences in the symptoms of autism mask their prevalence in girls? A recent study into autistic friendships highlights some striking asymmetries.

Share on Pinterest According to a new study, the way in which autistic boys and girls enter friendships can be quite different.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that around 1 in 68 American children have been identified with an autism spectrum disorder.

Autism appears to be far more prevalent in males than females; almost five times more boys are thought to have the disorder than girls. According to the CDC, around 1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls are on the autistic spectrum.

Research being presented today at the British Psychological Society’s Division of Educational and Child Psychology puts an interesting slant on autism, friendship and the differences between girls and boys.

Felicity Sedgewick and her team at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education at the UCL Institute of Education, University College London in the UK conducted a study comparing autistic children’s relationships with the relationships of non-autistic children of equivalent age.

In total, 46 young people, aged 12-16, all of a similar intellectual level, were assessed by a number of psychological measures and interviewed at length.

According to Sedgewick: