You are invited to take part in this research project. The purpose of this project is to investigate the female profile of autism. This project is for the thesis component of my Doctorate of Clinical Psychology at Deakin University. A total of 120 people will participate in this project. If you click on the link below, you can participate in this project by completing an online survey.

Throughout Australia, approximately four times as many males are diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder as there are females diagnosed. This gender ratio widens to 10 males to every female at the high functioning end of the autistic spectrum. At present, no-one understands why there are so few females diagnosed with high functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger’s syndrome (AS). Recent clinical evidence indicates this difference may be due to a difference in the way HFA or AS males and HFA or AS females behave. Because of their better social skills, HFA or AS females may not be as easily identifiable by parents, teachers, general practitioners and other professionals, and therefore may not be referred for an assessment as frequently as males. Making matters worse, because of their different strengths and weaknesses, females with HFA or AS may not be as easily diagnosed as males when using the current diagnostic criteria. As a result, there is a question about whether suspected HFA or AS females are being diagnosed correctly. Further, the confusion in differences between boys and girls may be hiding aspects of the real problems for boys.

You are invited to participate in this research project because we are looking to investigate the differences between HFA or AS males and females further. We wish to establish how females with HFA or AS are different from males with HFA or AS and females without HFA or AS.

Victoria Miller
Clinical Doctorate of Psychology
Deakin University
Melbourne, Australia
vcm@deakin.edu.au


The Female Profile of Autism