Thursday, September 06, 2007
Clinic Notes: Girls with Autism and ABA
Boys are three to four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls. Last week I saw 35 children in my clinic with an autism diagnosis. Only 7 were girls. Not only is autism diagnosed less frequently in girls, it seems to me that the autism in not as severe. (Of course there are exceptions and I do occasionally see girls with moderate to severe autism.) Most of the girls I see with autism do okay with their academic subjects. They have problems handling concepts, and are very literal in their reading. Idioms and other peculiarities of language cause them problems, but for the most part academics is not their biggest problem. Girls with autism tend to have more problems socially than any other area. But then the same could be said of normally developing girls as well.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Interesting. I have seen girls present with more severe profiles in the 9 years I have been in the field. Would be interesting to be keeping some real data and see if my impression would be confirmed.
Great topic. Especially since I have a girl. NYT Article has some good info.
I have a nine year old daughter who has Aspergers. I also work in the school district with children and young adults that have all kinds of diagnosis's and need. I have seen my daughter go from noticable autistic traits as a very young child from 2 years to 5years and then become fairly normal and qwerky to having some behavioral issues again mainly with having unstructured time, conversation, eye contact, more social and emotional melt downs. She loves to be around people even if she doesn't involve herself with groups. She is on a med to curb the symptoms and attends group therapy which she loves. I am looking for some insight to the tween and teen years and as a educator who assists in schools, I would also like to know how to get cerified in ABA. Thank you
After puberty children with autism often change, especially boys. There is often an increase in aggression, agitation, and other "male" characteristics. With females the effects of puberty are not as clearly understood or investigated.
In regard to certification Google Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). to get the reguiements.
Post a Comment