is autism sex linked?

Answer 1

Hi there,

Autistic spectrum disorder is a very complex disorder, the causes of which are still not clearly known. However, there is a clear genetic link to the disorder, as siblings of persons with autism run much higher risk of being diagnosed with autism, compared to the general population. It is usually considered that autism is caused by a number of factors, including both genetic elements and environmemtal triggers.

To answer your query, however, in Kanner's 1943 study of a small group of children with autistic syndrome there were four times as many boys as girls; and in their much larger study of Asperger syndrome in mainstream schools in Sweden in 1993, Ehlers and Gillberg found the same male to female ratio of 4:1. The ratio of male to female clients in National Autistic Society adult services is approximately 3:1.

Source: http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1049&a=3370

Hope this helps a little.

Regards.

Answer 2

Is Autism Sex-linked

Answer 3

There is a strong genetic component to autism, and there appears to be different genes leading to autism in girls than boys.

"It is highly unlikely that there is only one gene responsible for autism," said Schellenberg. "There may be four to six major genes and 20 to 30 others that might contribute to autism to a lesser degree.

"If an individual only gets three high-risk variants of these genes, it could mean a less-severe form of autism. And because autism is rarer in females, it may take more risk genes for a female to have autism. There also is the possibility that there might be a biological difference in autism for females versus males," he said.

Answer 4

There is no relevant evidence to this. Autism is a spectrum disorder with questionable cause that is more theory than anything else. Some believe it is genetic while others say it is from mercury poisoning.

Answer 5

While it is identified more in male than female research seems to indicate that it is an identification issue rather than attached to a gender issue. Girls by nature master superficial social skills earlier than boys and are less likely to have the more out there behaviors - because of those strengths - they are not identified as soon and as often as boys.