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Brief Report: Relationship Between Non-verbal IQ and Gender in Autism

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Abstract

It has been proposed that females at risk for autism are protected in some way, so that only those with the greatest genetic liability are affected. Consequently, affected male siblings of females with autism should be more impaired than affected male siblings of male probands. One hundred and ninety-four (194) families with a single child with autism (simplex, SPX) and 154 families with more than one child with autism (multiplex, MPX) were examined on measures of severity, including non-verbal IQ. Among SPX families, girls had lower IQ than boys, but no such differences were seen among MPX families. Similarly, the affected brothers of girls with autism were no different from affected brothers of male probands. These data suggest that MPX and SPX families differ with respect to the relationship between gender and IQ.

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Acknowledgement

This research project was funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research. We would like to acknowledge the children and families who have participated in this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Ryan Banach

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Ann Thompson, Peter Szatmari, Jeremy Goldberg & Lawrence Tuff

  3. Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, ON, Canada

    Lonnie Zwaigenbaum

  4. Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    William Mahoney

  5. Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Peter Szatmari

Authors
  1. Ryan Banach
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  2. Ann Thompson
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  3. Peter Szatmari
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  4. Jeremy Goldberg
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  5. Lawrence Tuff
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  6. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum
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  7. William Mahoney
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Correspondence to Peter Szatmari.

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Banach, R., Thompson, A., Szatmari, P. et al. Brief Report: Relationship Between Non-verbal IQ and Gender in Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 39, 188–193 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-008-0612-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-008-0612-4

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