Gransnet forums


Autism affects male and female brains differently

(18 Posts)
Bags Fri 09-Aug-13 07:29:41

Article in the Independent. The same treatment for males and females might not be appropriate.

nightowl Fri 09-Aug-13 07:54:53

Interesting, but it doesn't say how autism affects the brains differently. Or whether the brains were just different in the first place (which of course they were) rather than showing the effects of autism. It's not a very informative article, though I'm sure the research has a lot more to say.

Gorki Fri 09-Aug-13 08:06:27

I read somewhere the other day that autism in girls could manifest itself as anorexia i.e that girls with anorexia are in fact autistic.A step too far methinks ! confused

whenim64 Fri 09-Aug-13 08:20:11

The research will be solid. I just read a couple of books on empathy by Baron Cohen and his team at Cambridge. This is his life's work, and his research papers and books are helpful and informative. Interesting that girls are more likely to behave as though they are empathic. I worked with a woman who had a diagnosis of high end autism - a research genius. She once contributed to a discussion on measuring empathic responses - 'well, you'll just never know - some people are better at acting empathy than others.' We maintained that empathy can't be faked, and she insisted it could.

JessM Fri 09-Aug-13 18:57:33

So you are impressed with this researcher when
I think that they have programmed computers to make those empathic responses quite successfully. I find it is very tricky to train normal adults to do likewise.

whenim64 Fri 09-Aug-13 19:23:22

Jess I woud discount a computer as being empathic no matter what it had to say! grin

whenim64 Fri 09-Aug-13 19:27:23

Oh, and yes, I've never known an unempathic person to be anything else, despite teaching them about empathy and attempting to elicit consistent empathic statements and appropriate behaviour. If it ain't there, it ain't there, no matter how much they pretend. hmm

Tegan Fri 09-Aug-13 19:29:07

This is all getting a bit Isaac Asimov'ish. I've always looked on empathy as a physical feeling really.

j08 Fri 09-Aug-13 19:35:40

I would have thought that was pretty obvious. We are back to the Mars and Venus thing again.

j08 Fri 09-Aug-13 19:36:52

"One of our new findings is that females with autism show neuroanatomical ‘mascularisation’. This may implicate physiological mechanisms that drive sexual dimorphism, such as prenatal sex hormones and sex-linked genetic mechanisms"

You got that?

Nelliemoser Fri 09-Aug-13 19:43:57

gorki The obsessive things that sometimes occur with ASD might be centered around not gaining weight faddy diets etc.

janeainsworth Fri 09-Aug-13 19:53:24

When are you saying that listening/communication skills can't be taught? Or do you mean something different by empathy?

JessM Fri 09-Aug-13 19:57:21

Yes they can be taught, but some people are more receptive than others I have found.
when what if you did not know if it was a computer?

j08 Fri 09-Aug-13 19:57:24

I am sure I have managed to drill some empathy into my son. Took a lot of doing. But it can be done.

Galen Fri 09-Aug-13 20:19:47

MY COMPUTER is definitely NOT empathic! It tries to sabotage me at every possible opportunity!
( I really think it thinks I'm a slow speed idiot. I think it's a high speed idiot. Which is superior?)

Gorki Fri 09-Aug-13 20:28:56

I understand what you are saying Nelliemoser and agree it could be so in some cases but I have come across a lot of girls suffering from anorexia that in no way appear to be autistic. I believe that anorexia is something that society does to people and inflicts on them rather than a condition they are born with. For many girls it is a response to being told they are fat. It becomes an obsession like me keep dipping into GN ! Does that make me autistic? Don't answer that !grin

Galen Fri 09-Aug-13 20:33:00

My dd was anorexic. Recovered now than God. No way is she autistic (although her bro might on the autistic spectrum. High iq, mathematical +++++)

JessM Fri 09-Aug-13 21:19:31

I did meet one woman I thought was somewhat autistic. She had always functioned in work - often working with her OH. Her house was just like no one was living there. Oddly blank, as was she. Think he talked so much she flew beneath radar. I think she was probably a looker in her day, but in the absence of a single photo...