Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-70.36.68.115-20150302004042/@comment-209421-20151106005331

OK, you've gone and done it. Now I'm frustrated, because this thread has not been allowed to die, so I'm going to bombard you with facts and answer your questions.

1. The number of people on the Autistic spectrum is actually the population of humanity. EVERYBODY is on the spectrum, because it's a SPECTRUM that ranges from neurotypical to severe autism. What you're talking about is the definable cutoffs, where somebody is considered to be in the autistic range. I'm not going to quote figures, because that would make me sound pretentious. Neuropsychology and assessments for autism are constantly changing.

2. FEMALE PATTERN AUTISM IS DIFFERENT TO MALE PATTERN. Here, I'm comfortable with numbers, because one of my university lecturers is a world expert on the spectrum (ironically, his wife was the one who assessed me). Currently, the diagnostic pattern for male vs. females is about 9:1, leading to the belief that it is a primarily male disorder. HOWEVER, this is born of the assessment tests and criteria, both of which are designed to catch male pattern autism. Now, the professor who was delievering the lecture is working on a female-pattern specialized test, and he theorizes that the ratio is far from 9:1. Instead, he proposed 2:1, maybe as high as 3:1 male to female. Now, how does this relate? Ruby has a lot of the markers for female-pattern high-functioning autism. However, as it is a spectrum, I wouldn't say that she has enough markers to put her on the classifiable side. I'm not trained in assessment, this is a gut feeling. I would say neurotypical, either way.

3. ADHD is another aspect on the ASD spectrum, or at least that's what the current belief is. ADHD assessment is increasing, but in some of the people I know with Aspergers, or High-functioning autism, they have all the markers for ADHD and then some. However, my psychopathology course was never concrete, because they were writing the lesson plans the week before each class as the research constantly changes.

So, have things changed in the field in the month so far into my break? Almost certainly. Would I stick with my belief that Ruby does not have enough markers to receive an assessment of female-pattern ASD? Yes.

Should this thread die in a hole? YES.