Research priority | Challenges | Recommendation(s) | Implications |
---|---|---|---|
Better identification and diagnosis of females | Diagnostic norms developed in adolescent males | Clinical guidelines or recommendations for clinicians, encouragement of clinicians to observe both males and females with ASD in training | Changes in M:F bias in prevalence |
Societal and cultural expectations of males and females | Provide comparisons between ASD females and typical females across studies | Understanding of specific needs of females with ASD | |
Compensatory mechanisms in social behaviors in females, masking symptoms and hiding diagnosis | Reduced reliance on clinical samples for data collection | Improvement in services and resources available for females with ASD | |
Qualitative differences in symptoms between males and females in development | Examination of early signs and symptoms, including trajectories in at risk infants. | Earlier detection of ASD in females | |
Characterization of male: female differences in core and associated symptoms | Low sample sizes of females enrolled in research studies | Data sharing, pooling, repository efforts | Improved representation of females in ASD research and specific recommendations for females with ASD |
Restriction of signs and symptoms to ASD diagnosis | Including ASD associated symptoms, broader phenotype, and understanding of heterogeneity | Potential sex specific diagnostic criteria | |
Biological differences between males and females | Variability introduced with inclusion of females in research | Sex included as a covariate in research studies, especially animal models | Identification of protective mechanisms for translational impact. |
Limited understanding of human sexual dimorphism at a molecular, cellular or anatomical level | Basic science focused specifically on human sexual dimorphism | Understanding role of male/female physiological differences in protection of some ASD symptoms |