What is the Difference Between Autistic Male and Female Students?

Proposal for Research Study: What is the Difference Between Autistic Male and Female Students?

Introduction, Problem, & Purpose

In most cases, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by challenges in communication skills, social skills, or repetitive behaviors. However, the difficulty in the above skills can differ based on the person’s gender with the disorder. But most scholars have failed to investigate autism in the female population, and hence most of the autism is about males. As a result, society’s understandings of autism have always been from a male perspective, which has created a knowledge gap concerning gender.  Also, this can lead to the likelihood of diagnostic gender bias. Thus females who meet the autism criteria may be at an unbalanced risk of not getting a clinical diagnosis.

In a classroom setting, every student portrays different behavior ranging from the learning style, interests, social skills, interests, and personalities. The same case applies to autistic students. For instance, female students exhibit less repetitive and restricted interests and behaviors compared to male students. It is critical to note that special interests and repetitive action are essential diagnostic criteria. However, autistic female students do not portray the same special interests as typical autistic male students. Instead, their interests are the same as those of typically developing young girls, for instance, fascination with celebrities, horses, and dolls.

In the modern world, education has continually changed, and at the same time, autism has been on the rise. Hence, most of the teachers are striving to welcome into their classrooms, students with ASD. Therefore, the topic of differences between autistic female and male students is significant to me because it will help teachers not generalize autistic students’ behavior. Instead, they should understand that there exist differences between the two genders concerning autism. This study aims to educate parents and teachers on the role of gender differences among autistic students. Besides, it takes a lot of effort to help an autistic student and get the most out of the classroom experience.

Literature Review

            Autism is a complex developmental disorder that lasts throughout an individual’s life. At times it is known as a developmental disability because it affects persons before the age of three, where it causes problems or delays in many skills that occur from infancy to adulthood. The common symptoms for the above disorder revolve around social behavior and language (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2005). Language and social skills are crucial in learning institutions. Typically, communication is an essential function of human existence, and as social beings, people communicate with each other using multiple tools from the moment they are born (Huff and Christensen, 2018). These tools include words, symbols, gestures, sounds, and expression, among others.

On the other hand, language is a shared and structured form of communication, such as written and spoken words, gestures, characters, and figures. Also, it involves rules that govern word order, social use and tense, and this depends on the culture upon which the language is used. (Huff and Christensen, 2018) Both language and communication play a role in a student’s communication platform, especially for students who do not have proper means of communication when they join a school, for instance, autistic students. Hence, a teacher must understand the differences between female and male autistic students. More so, it is pivotal to consider the significance of language development in autistic students in areas such as reading, to speak, listening, and to write because they vary among students.  Autistic students require language and communication platforms that allow the expression of complex ideas and thoughts.

According to Spencer, Simpson, Day, and Buster (2008), most autistic students have a highly focused area of interest, including a wide range of fascinations, which acts as a motivation. Hence, there is a need to understand the differences between autistic female and male students because it would help teachers teach a variety of behavioral, academic, and social skills. Further, research indicates that each autistic child exhibits specific traits for a particular area of interest, which dominates their conversation and time (Spencer et al., 2008). Understanding the specific areas of interest in a child helps in designing teaching strategies for special education teachers.

Nevertheless, ASD is comprised of multiple disorders. However, the disorder’s common traits include issues like the inability to behave and think flexibly, as well as impaired use and understanding of verbal and non-verbal communication. Despite an increased number of autistic students attending schools, meeting their needs is complex and poorly understood (Williams, 2016). Lack of professional development is one of the challenges encountered by teachers of autistic students.

Significant studies reveal that teachers argue that the lack of adequate information about autism impacts students’ work. Hence, there is a need to understand the differences between male and female autistic students. Furthermore, most teachers demonstrate the willingness to learn more about autistic students. A major study conducted by Williams (2016) revealed that both the experienced and beginning teachers desire to receive professional development for teaching autistic students.

A small amount of professional development would be critical for beginning teachers because it would enable them to work effectively with autistic students, such as evidence-based practices on differences between male and female autistic students. An interview conducted on special education teachers indicated that their professional development is primarily boosted through mentoring by peers with experience in teaching autistic students, workshops by outside agencies, and respective schools and hands-on training (Williams, 2016). Additionally, teachers recommend increasing collaboration between parents, teachers, school psychologists, and special education teachers. Experienced educators prefer practical strategies and advice, written guidelines, and study programs. On the other hand, inexperienced teachers prefer assistance with individual action plans, providing material on autism, and demonstrating strategies.

According to Lai, Lombardo, Auyeung, Chakrabarti, and Baron-Cohen (2015), the association between gender differences and autism has attracted multiple studies such as etiology and neurobiology and clinical research as a result of male bias in autism incidence. Most of the findings are complex and do not always share a common concern. Hence, the questions concerning autism and gender differences are inadequately addressed. The gender bias in the prevalence of autism has impacted both clinical practice and research. Also, most studies focus on children, adults, and adolescents. Hence, it becomes difficult to distinguish gender because it is socially constructed since birth.

The underrepresentation of females in clinical practice and research is the primary reason for a male understanding of autism. But recently, some studies have revisited the gender differences associated with autism, and have attempted to explain the differences and similarities between males and females with autism through data sets (Lai et al., 2015). In most cases, males are easily diagnosed with ASD compared with females. This is because females require more concurrent cognitive problems to receive a clinical diagnosis of ASD.  Further, the late diagnosis of ASD in females is affected by gender-based bias from society and stereotyping.

Research indicates that social-cultural systems across many communities are gender-based (Lai et al., 2015). For instance, a person’s encounter is partly different due to their socialization and gender role expectation according to an individual’s birth sex. This leads to gender-differential effects in recognizing and defining autism. The above concern also affects learning institutions, and hence there is a need to understand the differences between male and female autistic students to eliminate autism gender-bias. According to Lai et al. (2015), there is a need for more studies that would focus on sex or gender differences among autistic individuals.

Proposed Intervention

            In the modern world, there is limited information concerning gender differences between female and male autistic students. This is because most of the available information focuses on autism in males. As a result, there has been a gender gap, and one of the common characteristics of autism is the inconsistency in women and men. However, male and female students may have different autism profiles, and this primarily occurs in the way students exhibit difficulties and strengths of autism. Therefore, the best strategy for understanding the differences between female and male autistic students is to distinguish female and male autism profiles. This would help a teacher in establishing the different autistic traits based on gender.

One of the concerns why autism is often missed in females is due to the diagnostic criteria. Asperger and Kanner covered the first description of autism, and this concluded that the disorder affects males only (Liliya, 2017). Also, a majority of the studies focus on autism in males where they recruit male samples and this results in the assumption that autism is higher in males than females. Hence, the first solution for understanding the gender differences between female and male autistic students is to abandon the argument that the disorder primarily affects males. Besides, the diagnostic criteria are based on research, where females are underrepresented. This results in the exclusion of females regarding the diagnosis and definition of autism.

Secondly, educators or teachers should understand that female students exhibit less repetitive and restricted interests and behaviors compared to male students. This is because the existence of special interests and repeated action is an essential diagnostic criterion (Liliya, 2017). However, female students do not possess the same type of interests like typical male students. Instead, their interests resemble those of developing girls.

Additionally, females with autism have internalizing symptoms such as eating disorders, anxiety and depression. Contrarily, males have externalizing traits like hyperactivity and aggression. Further, when females with internalizing symptoms are referred to health practitioners, the symptoms are often misinterpreted, leading to a misdiagnosis (Liliya, 2017). Nevertheless, multiple autistic ladies miss a diagnosis due to their ability to hide social difficulties by imitating socially upright behavior. Likewise, they possess the higher social motivation and a greater capacity for traditional friendship than autistic men.

Intervention Goals

            One of the intervention goals is to help educators in detecting the difficulties in students by directing them towards autism assessment. In most cases, educators play an essential role in the diagnosis and evaluation of autism. But their knowledge can be limited due to the challenge in recognizing the gender differences between autistic female and male students. Despite the idea that educators cannot be expected to be autism specialists, primary school educators can play a pivotal role. They can assist in identifying the autistic characteristics because they have the first-hand experience with children in a classroom setting.

The other goal is that research on gender differences could help in designing non-biased diagnostic instruments and criteria. This will not only raise awareness among educators but also for healthcare practitioners who assist in the early detection and diagnosis of autism. Also, the understanding of how autism presents differently among female and male students would help in recognizing their different needs as well as providing them with the right support.

Lastly, the intervention will help in shedding light on the behavioral criterion for autism among females and males. A careful reflection of the autism profiles would help in solving the diagnostic tests regarding what defines autism ranging from interests, behavior and communication. Hence, educators will have adequate knowledge for handling students, even when they strive to hide their behavior.

Research Methodology

Research Design

            The study will utilize a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group model. In this type of research, a control group with comparable features and functions to the experimental group will be selected. Although randomized control trials are often preferred in multiple studies, there are times when conditions of this type of design cannot be fulfilled. Hence, a quasi-experimental design will be the best alternative.

One of the merits of this type of research design is that it will allow active investigation of the relationships that occur in a naturally occurring setup where particular necessities like manipulation and control are not met. Also, the method will help in overcoming ethical and practical barriers for conducting randomized control trials in a school. However, the non-randomization of the participants will make it hard to attribute any differences arising due to intervention correctly.

Research Questions

            To investigate the differences between female and male autistic students, the respondents will be asked the following questions;

1. Is there a true sex difference in the autism prevalence?
2. What causes sex difference in autism prevalence?
3. How are autistic female students different than male autistic students?
4. When do differences emerge in female and male autistic students?

In this case, the autistic students will be the independent variables. At the same time, gender differences will be the dependent variables, and this will be comprised of factors such as special interests, repetitive behavior, social skills, and communication skills.

Sketch

            The sketch concerning how the study will be conducted is discussed in appendix A.

Data Collection and Analysis Methods

            Survey design. The study will use a survey design for collecting data due to its effectiveness in gathering massive amounts of information from the sampled population, and this will help in making inferences. The survey will include a questionnaire with specific research questions, as discussed earlier. The questionnaires will be administered to the participants using more conventional, paper and pencil approach, as well as face to face administration, to encourage increased participation. However, a traditional paper and pencil survey technique would be more time-consuming and expensive compared to a web-based one. This is because a researcher will be forced to travel long distances to ensure that data collection is conducted correctly.

On the other hand, a low response rate may pose a threat to the survey design, and this is because reduced participation levels might make it difficult to conclude the findings to the entire target population. But various strategies can be used to decrease non-response rates. For instance, the questions can be kept anonymous, self-completed, and paper-based to eliminate the potential fear of participating in a study. Additionally,

Data analysis methods. One of the tools that will be used in assessing the differences between autistic students is a scale for determining their behaviors and special interests. The other tool will be a developmental checklist that would measure things such as language learning. Both the scale and the list will be distributed to teachers in respective classrooms. The collected data will then be analyzed to come up with the standard features in the distributed checklist and scales. An example of a list and scale is indicated in Appendix B.

A proposed timeline for implementation. The proposed research will take six months.

• September to December (2020)- Recruitment of participants
• January to March (2021)- Data collection and analysis, reporting results, and building reflective practitioner.

Discussion

As mentioned earlier, autism is a developmental disability that results in significant behavioral, communication, and social challenges. However, there is no specific way of how individuals with the above disorder look. Instead, what set this type of individuals apart from the rest is that they behave, learn, and communicate differently. The problem-solving, learning and thinking abilities of autistic students can range from gifted to severely challenged, and hence they may need a lot of help in a classroom setting. The inherent variability of needs and behavior of autistic individuals partly explains why it’s closely linked with male children as opposed to females.

In my view, I would expect some notable differences between female and male autistic students. However, the above differences would be due to diagnostic bias, cultural expectations, and socialization. For instance, autistic male students are more likely to play alone, while female students are more likely to play with others or move round in social groups at school. But one would note challenges in social interactions. In most cases, girls socialize differently compared to boys; for instance, girls can be less aggressive in their social interactions, and hence the symptoms of autism may be overlooked. More so, when a teacher comes across a female student who is more introspective, he or she is likely to assume that the female student is a typical girl.

Implications

The identification of differences between autistic female and male students would play a critical role among the parents, teachers, schools, students, and me. As a teacher, this research will help me design an effective teaching plan that incorporates the differences between autistic students. Similarly, other teachers will have the opportunity to create lesson plans that would help autistic students fit into their respective communities. More the role of special education teachers is to help autistic students to interact well with their peers, s well as communicate effectively both at home and school.

Concerning parents, the study will enlighten them on the differences between autistic girls and boys. For instance, they need to understand that girls can hide difficulties in social interactions, and hence they must be keen. Also, the parents should know that girls are less aggressive compared to boys, and thus it becomes harder to identify autism. As for the school, the study will help them to design programs that can promote necessary life skills among autistic students by providing the right classroom directions, rules and procedures for special education. Lastly, the study will help students in discovering that there exist notable differences between female and male autistic students. Hence, they should not demand too much from them because they have weaknesses in social interaction skills.

Conclusion

            In the modern world, the number of children diagnosed with autism has dramatically increased. The increased numbers have resulted in the push towards the inclusion of children with disabilities in learning institutions. Hence, most schools have witnessed a higher number of autistic students joining regular classrooms. Likewise, teachers have an increased role in monitoring autistic students since they require special attention compared to regular students. For instance, teachers are required to offer emotional support, instructional support, and proper classroom management skills, and this has affected student-teacher relationship quality.

The rise of special education has resulted in significant studies that examine issues concerning autistic students.  In light of the above argument, my proposal is an investigation of the differences between autistic female and male students. These differences occur due to a variation in social skills, cultural expectations, and diagnostic bias. Over the years, autism has often been associated with males leading to a misdiagnosis among females. However, the identification of differences among autistic students would help in coming up with the right intervention.

Appendices

Appendix A

Appendix B

The tables below show a sample of a scale and a developmental checklist

Table 1: Developmental checklist

Table 2:  A scale for assessing child’s play