Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Female Autism Phenotypes Investigated at Different Levels of Language and Developmental Abilities

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study investigated the differences in clinical symptoms between females and males with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across three verbal ability groups (nonverbal, phrase and fluent speech), based on which Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule module was administered to 5723 individuals in four research datasets. In the Simons Simplex Collection and Autism Treatment Network, females with ASD and phrase or fluent speech had lower cognitive, adaptive, and social abilities than males. In the Autism Genetics Resource Exchange and the Autism Consortium, females with phrase or fluent speech had similar or better adaptive and social abilities than males. Females who were nonverbal had similar cognitive, adaptive, and social abilities as males. Population-based longitudinal studies of verbally fluent females with ASD are needed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. (2001). Manual for the ASEBA school-age forms & profiles: An integrated system of multi-informant assessment. Burlington, VT: ASEBA.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network Surveillance Year 2010 Principal Investigators; CDC. (2014). Prevalence of autism spectrum disorder among children aged 8 years—autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network, 11 sites, United States, 2010. MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 63(2), 1–21.

  • Banach, R., Thompson, A., Szatmari, P., Goldberg, J., Tuff, L., Zwaigenbaum, L., & Mahoney, W. (2009). Brief Report: relationship between non-verbal IQ and gender in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39(1), 188–193.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Benjamini, Y., & Hochberg, Y. (1995). Controlling the false discovery rate: A practical and powerful approach to multiple testing. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B, 57, 289–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolte, S., Dziobek, I., & Poustka, F. (2009). Brief report: The level and nature of autistic intelligence revisited. [Comparative Study]. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39(4), 678–682.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1987). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Constantino, J. N., Davis, S. A., Todd, R. D., Schindler, M. K., Gross, M. M., Brophy, S. L., & Reich, W. (2003). Validation of a brief quantitative measure of autistic traits: Comparison of the social responsiveness scale with the autism diagnostic interview-revised. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 33(4), 427–433.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Constantino, J. N., & Todd, R. D. (2003). Autistic traits in the general population: A twin study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60(5), 524–530.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cook, E. H, Jr, & Scherer, S. W. (2008). Copy-number variations associated with neuropsychiatric conditions. Nature, 455(7215), 919–923.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coury, D., Jones, N., Klatka, K., Winklosky, B., & Perrin, J. (2009). Healthcare for children with autism: The Autism Treatment Network. Current Opinion in Pediatrics, 21(6), 828–832.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • de Bildt, A., Sytema, S., Ketelaars, C., Kraijer, D., Mulder, E., Volkmar, F., & Minderaa, R. (2004). Interrelationship between autism diagnostic observation schedule-generic (ADOS-G), autism diagnostic interview-revised (ADI-R), and the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-IV-TR) classification in children and adolescents with mental retardation. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34(2), 129–137.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dworzynski, K., Ronald, A., Bolton, P., & Happe, F. (2012). How different are girls and boys above and below the diagnostic threshold for autism spectrum disorders? Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 51(8), 788–797.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ehlers, S., Gillberg, C., & Wing, L. (1999). A screening questionnaire for Asperger syndrome and other high-functioning autism spectrum disorders in school age children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29(2), 129–141.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, C. D. (1990). Differential ability scales: Introductory and technical handbook. San Antonio: Psychological Corp., Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

  • Elliott, A. C., & Reisch, J. S. (2003). Implementing a multiple comparison test for proportions in a 2xC crosstabulation in SAS®. In Proceedings of the thirty first annual SAS user group international conference, 204–31. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc.

  • Fischbach, G. D., & Lord, C. (2010). The Simons Simplex Collection: A resource for identification of autism genetic risk factors. Neuron, 68(2), 192–195.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fombonne, E. (2003). Epidemiological surveys of autism and other pervasive developmental disorders: An update. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 33(4), 365–382.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frazier, T. W., Georgiades, S., Bishop, S. L., & Hardan, A. Y. (2014). Behavioral and cognitive characteristics of females and males with autism in the Simons Simplex Collection. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 53(3), 329–340.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goldman, S. (2013). Opinion: Sex, gender and the diagnosis of autism—a biosocial view of the male preponderance. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 7(6), 675–679.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gotham, K., Risi, S., Pickles, A., & Lord, C. (2007). The autism diagnostic observation schedule: Revised algorithms for improved diagnostic validity. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(4), 613–627.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holtmann, M., Bolte, S., & Poustka, F. (2007). Autism spectrum disorders: Sex differences in autistic behaviour domains and coexisting psychopathology. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 49(5), 361–366.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, C. M., Steinhausen, H. C., & Lauritsen, M. B. (2014). Time trends over 16 years in incidence-rates of autism spectrum disorders across the lifespan based on nationwide Danish register data. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 44(8), 1808–1818.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, Y. S., Leventhal, B. L., Koh, Y. J., Fombonne, E., Laska, E., Lim, E. C., & Grinker, R. R. (2011). Prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in a total population sample. American Journal of Psychiatry, 168(9), 904–912.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Konstantareas, M. M., Homatidis, S., & Busch, J. (1989). Cognitive, communication, and social differences between autistic boys and girls. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 10(4), 411–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kraemer, H. C., Morgan, G. A., Leech, N. L., Gliner, J. A., Vaske, J. J., & Harmon, R. J. (2003). Measures of clinical significance. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(12), 1524–1529.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lai, M. C., Lombardo, M. V., Auyeung, B., Chakrabarti, B., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2015). Sex/gender differences and autism: setting the scene for future research. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 54(1), 11–24.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lai, M. C., Lombardo, M. V., Pasco, G., Ruigrok, A. N., Wheelwright, S. J., Sadek, S. A., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2011). A behavioral comparison of male and female adults with high functioning autism spectrum conditions. Public Library of Science One, 6(6), e20835.

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lajonchere, C. M. (2010). Changing the landscape of autism research: The autism genetic resource exchange. Neuron, 68(2), 187–191.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lajonchere, C., Jones, N., Coury, D., & Perrin, J. (2012). Leadership in health care, research and quality improvement for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders: Autism Treatment Network and autism intervention research network on physical healthy. Pediatrics, 130(Supplement 2), S62–S68.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., DiLavore, P. C., & Risi, S. (2002). Autism diagnostic observation schedule. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Risi, S., Lambrecht, L., Cook, E. H, Jr, Leventhal, B. L., DiLavore, P. C., & Rutter, M. (2000). The autism diagnostic observation schedule-generic: A standard measure of social and communication deficits associated with the spectrum of autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30(3), 205–223.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Rutter, M., Goode, S., Heemsbergen, J., Jordan, H., Mawhood, L., & Schopler, E. (1989). Autism diagnostic observation schedule: a standardized observation of communicative and social behavior. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 19(2), 185–212.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Schopler, E., & Revicki, D. (1982). Sex differences in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 12(4), 317–330.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mandy, W., Chilvers, R., Chowdhury, U., Salter, G., Seigal, A., & Skuse, D. (2012). Sex differences in autism spectrum disorder: Evidence from a large sample of children and adolescents. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(7), 1304–1313.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mattila, M. L., Kielinen, M., Linna, S. L., Jussila, K., Ebeling, H., Bloigu, R., & Moilanen, I. (2011). Autism spectrum disorders according to DSM-IV-TR and comparison with DSM-5 draft criteria: An epidemiological study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 50(6), 583–592.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mottron, L. (2004). Matching strategies in cognitive research with individuals with high-functioning autism: Current practices, instrument biases, and recommendations. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34(1), 19–27.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, E. B., Lichtenstein, P., Anckarsäter, H., Happé, F., & Ronald, A. (2013). Examining and interpreting the female protective effect against autistic behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U S A, 110(13), 5258–5262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roid, G. H. (2003). Stanford-binet intelligence scales (5th ed.). Itasca, IL: Riverside.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M., Le Couteur, A., & Lord, C. (2003). Autism diagnostic interview-Revised. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, F. J., Baron-Cohen, S., Bolton, P., & Brayne, C. (2002). Brief report: Prevalence of autism spectrum conditions in children aged 5–11 years in Cambridgeshire, UK. Autism, 6(3), 231–237.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shen, Y., Dies, K. A., Holm, I. A., Bridgemohan, C., Sobeih, M. M., Caronna, E. B., & Miller, D. T. (2010). Clinical genetic testing for patients with autism spectrum disorders. Pediatrics, 125(4), e727–e735.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Skuse, D. H., Mandy, W., Steeer, C., Miller, L. L., Goodman, R., Lawrence, K., et al. (2009). Social communication competence and functional adaptation in a general population of children: Preliminary evidence for sex-by-verbal IQ differential risk. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 48(2), 128–137.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Solomon, M., Miller, M., Taylor, S. L., Hinshaw, S. P., & Carter, C. S. (2012). Autism symptoms and internalizing psychopathology in girls and boys with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(1), 48–59.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sparrow, S. S., Cicchetti, D. V., & Balla, D. A. (2005). Vineland adaptive behavior scales, second edition (Vineland-II). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Volkmar, F. R., Szatmari, P., & Sparrow, S. S. (1993). Sex differences in pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 23(4), 579–591.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (1999). Wechsler abbreviated scales of intelligence (WASI). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (2002). Wechsler primary and preschool scale of intelligence-third edition (WPPSI-III). San Antonio, TX: Harcourt Assessment.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (2004). Wechsler intelligence scale for children-fourth edition (WISC-IV). London, UK: Pearson Assessment.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeargin-Allsopp, M., Rice, C., Karapurkar, T., Doernberg, N., Boyle, C., & Murphy, C. (2003). Prevalence of autism in a US metropolitan area. JAMA, 289(1), 49–55.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zwaigenbaum, L., Bryson, S. E., Szatmari, P., Brian, J., Smith, I. M., Roberts, W., et al. (2012). Sex differences in children with autism spectrum disorder identified within a high-risk infant cohort. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(12), 2585–2596.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

EMM has received support from NIH P20GM103645-01A1, R01MH105442-01, R01MH102418, and a Career Award in Medical Science from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. YJH received support from the Maternal Child Health Bureau (MCHB) under training Grant T77MC09797. We gratefully acknowledge the resources provided by the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE) Consortium and the participating AGRE families. The AGRE is a program of Autism Speaks and is supported, in part, by Grant 1U24MH081810 from the National Institute of Mental Health to Clara M. Lajonchere (PI). We would also like to acknowledge datasets used for the analyses obtained from the Autism Treatment Network (ATN) Database. Funding support for ATN was provided by Autism Speaks. We would like to thank the ATN participants and the ATN Research Group for their valuable contribution to this research. The Autism Consortium is a Boston-based clinical and research collaboration, with 17 institutional members and 125 individual scientist and clinician members, who are collectively dedicated to catalyzing progress in understanding autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders in order to improve diagnosis, clinical care and treatment. With data and samples collected from 525+ families who participated in clinical research, the Consortium’s repository is made available for use by the autism research community. The authors are grateful to the Consortium, its members and the families who have made this vital resource possible. We are also grateful to all of the families at the participating SSC Simplex Collection (SSC) sites, as well as the principal investigators (A. Beaudet, R. Bernier, J. Constantino, E. Cook, E. Fombonne, D. Geschwind, D. Grice, A. Klin, D. Ledbetter, C. Lord, C. Martin, D. Martin, R. Maxim, J. Miles, O. Ousley, B. Peterson, J. Piggot, C. Saulnier, M. State, W. Stone, J. Sutcliffe, C. Walsh, E. Wijsman).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Yamini J. Howe

    Present address: Lurie Center for Autism, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Lexington, MA, USA

  2. Emma W. Viscidi

    Present address: Biogen, Cambridge, MA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Hasbro Children’s/Rhode Island Hospital, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Yamini J. Howe & Yvette Yatchmink

  2. Lurie Center for Autism, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Lexington, MA, USA

    Julia A. O’Rourke

  3. Laboratory of Computer Science, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Julia A. O’Rourke

  4. Division of Biology and Medicine, Department of Community Health/Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Emma W. Viscidi

  5. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University Medical School, Providence, RI, USA

    Richard N. Jones & Eric M. Morrow

  6. Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry and Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Eric M. Morrow

  7. Developmental Disorders Genetics Research Program, Emma Pendleton Bradley Hospital, Providence, RI, USA

    Eric M. Morrow

Authors
  1. Yamini J. Howe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Julia A. O’Rourke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yvette Yatchmink
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Emma W. Viscidi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Richard N. Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Eric M. Morrow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eric M. Morrow.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Howe, Y.J., O’Rourke, J.A., Yatchmink, Y. et al. Female Autism Phenotypes Investigated at Different Levels of Language and Developmental Abilities. J Autism Dev Disord 45, 3537–3549 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2501-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2501-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation