Gender differences in social behaviours of autistic children

Supervisor: Dr Henry wood-Downie

Autism is thought to be under-acknowledged in the female population, due to the diagnostic tools being based on a sample predominantly made up of males. Therefore, fewer females are being suitably diagnosed. There was an expectation that autistic females present similarly to autistic males, even in social contexts, showing solitary social behaviours.

However, there is a recent view that autistic females are more successful in camouflaging social difficulties. The literature suggests that females present differently, showing higher levels of camouflaging behaviours (i.e. strategies to appear less autistic in social interactions). This contributes to females with autism being under-recognised.

This research is an adaptation of an American study that aims to clarify the social behaviours of autistic girls to support the early identification of those with autism.

This study uses The Playground Observation of Peer Engagement (POPE) to observe male and female autistic children during their playtime at school to measure the proportion of time spent engaged in different types of social behaviour.

A group of the participants completed an adapted version of Moran's (2001) 'Ideal School', the 'Ideal playtime', and described their ideal playtime. A comparison of these social behaviours and pupil views will be conducted to explore any gender differences in social behaviours.

If professional and parental views of autistic females do not align with presenting behaviours, this could cause autistic females to go unrecognised (e.g., when relying on adult-reported questionnaires). As early identification of autism supports wellbeing and facilitates the success rate of interventions, accurate, early identification is paramount.