A Girl's Eye View: Understanding Girls with Autism and Aspergers

Review of "Girls Growing Up on the Autism Spectrum" in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders by Kathleen Koenig

2009-10-10T07:06:00.002-05:00

I am pleased to share that our book "Girls Growing Up on the Autism Spectrum....." has recently been reviewed by Kathleen Koenig, Ph.D. of Yale School of Medicine in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

In writing this book, we were hopeful that it would help parents of an underserved and less recognized group of individuals with ASDs - girls (and women)! Kathleen's review recognizes a further contribution to the field - a meaningful conceptual book that can inform not only treatment approaches but next steps in research.

We are grateful to Kathleen, and humbled by her positive review...

Thank you!

Review of "Girls Growing Up on the Autism Spectrum" by the author of "More than a Mom..."

2009-10-01T09:29:00.002-05:00

In yesterday's blog for Today's Parent Magazine, Amy Baskin, mother of a teenage girl with ASD and co-author of the wonderful book "More Than a Mom – Living a Full and Balanced Life When Your Child has Special Needs" wrote a review of our book. See below...

http://community.todaysparent.com/advansis/?mod=for&act=dis&eid=99

Has anyone read More Than a Mom? Would love to hear your feedback. I think it is a wonderful book and I recommend it to many of the mothers with whom I work.

Talented young girl uses her beautiful singing voice to communicate

2009-09-14T07:02:00.001-05:00

http://www.gnn.com/article/gina-incandela-breaks-through-silence/666846?icid=main

Woman with Autism Has Successful Business she Loves...

2009-09-04T05:20:00.002-05:00

http://www.mlive.com/living/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/08/rag_business_enriches_life_of.html

Similar to a story I posted previously, it is so great to see women with ASDs and their families creating roles in the community for themselves that are meaningful and that they love doing!

Inspiring

2009-08-13T06:51:00.003-05:00

Saw an incredible concert in Prospect Park, Brooklyn last night... sitting outside the bandshell in the still night air - Bonnie Raitt, legendary blues and folk artist and guitarist. Anyone know her music? Queen of slide guitar! She is such an inspiration - a strong woman with a beautiful soul, talented and full of positive, calm energy - has overcome personal challenges and emerged insightful and ready to face what comes next. Made me think of all the young women with whom i work... and the importance of role models in their lives.

Who are your daughter's role models? It would be so great to put our girls in touch with each other...

"Make me an angel, that flies from Montgomery..."

good morning.

20/20 program on Carly Fleishman

2009-08-11T06:37:00.002-05:00

A wonderful story about a remarkable young woman who has found her voice.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/MindMoodNews/Story?id=8258204&page=1

ABC News 20/20 program Aug 6, 2009:

Teen Locked in Autistic Body Finds Inner Voice
Unable to Speak or Connect to the World Until Age 11, Carly Fleishman Types: 'I Am Autistic But That Is Not Who I Am'

Seeking contributions from girls for our f-up book "The Girl's Guide"!

2009-08-07T11:29:00.002-05:00

Hi again!

Day off today so I'm trying to catch up on correspondence including actually posting to the blog.

It has been great hearing everyone's response to Girls Growing Up on the Autism Spectrum and in particular, requests for a guide for the girls themselves. So, we've started!

We are seeking advice, suggestions, comments etc. from girls, teens, and women with ASDs on all the topics in our first book including:

1. what it's like being a female with AS
2. strengths and interests
3. handling adolescence and puberty
4. menstruation
5. fashion
6. hygiene and grooming
7. social skills and frienships and bullying
8. sexuality and dating
9. mental health, self-esteem
10. personal safety
11. gender, media, culture, society expectations

Also, poetry or drawings!

I can be reached through email if you are interested: drshananichols@gmail.com

Thanks! Look forward to hearing from you,

Shana.

Our Autism Society of America meeting 2009 girls presentation

2009-08-07T09:34:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone,

Got back a week or so ago from St. Charles where we gave a number of presentations - one of which was on girls with ASDs. I was so pleased that it was to a "standing room only" crowd. Finally everyone is starting to see the importance of issues facing females with ASDs, and are interested in understanding these more. Was anyone at the ASA meeting?

I was so fortunate to meet Sondra Williams in person finally after corresponding through email. She is such an incredible woman with AS, a great speaker, a brilliant mind. If you haven't read her book Reflections of Self published by The Gray Center, i strongly recommend it.

The annual women's panel was wonderful as always, moderated by ever dynamic Dena Gassner and Brigid Rankowski, a college student with AS, gave a wonderful talk about her experiences. What a cool gal! Very inspiring!

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their summer - what are your girls up to this summer to have fun and keep learning and relaxing?

Would love to hear about it!

Shana.

Back again... and creativity

2009-03-21T20:43:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone,

So the blog has been very quiet for a while. Apologies! Big transitions at work - my clinic is moving - and I broke my leg. I've been out of commission but I'm hoping to get back on track.

Am reading a great book right now: "The Girl Who Spoke with Pictures: Autism through Art"

http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Who-Spoke-Pictures-Through/dp/1843108895/ref=pd_sim_b_54

Do any of your daughters / clients / students express themselves creatively? How have you been able to encourage this?

Women with Disabilities and Successful Work Experiences

2009-02-07T21:00:00.002-06:00

http://news.therecord.com/article/481365

"Woman with Down syndrome didn't let preconceptions stop her from applying for a promotion"

A lovely news piece from my home country...

Topics for Discussion?

2009-01-07T20:33:00.001-06:00

Would anyone like to suggest a topic for discussion for January?

Study Review - Sex Differences in WISC-III scores

2009-01-07T20:14:00.003-06:00

Sex Differences in WISC-III Profiles of Children with High-functioning Pervasive Developmental Disorders

Few studies have examined sex differences in presentation in individuals with ASDs.

Aim: Examine cognitive profiles of males and females on the WISC-III (intellectual assessment)

Sample: 26 girls, 116 boys (ages 5-16) with ASD (any ASD diagnosis) with IQ above 70; sample from Japan

Measures: WISC-III; Japanese version of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale

Results:
1. Girls scored higher than boys on the Processing Speed Index score.

2. Girls scored higher than boys on the Coding and Symbol Search subtest scores.

3. Girls scored lower than boys on the Block Design subtest.

4. Profiles of scores were similar for boys and girls in the Verbal domain.

5. Boys had a different profile of scores in the non-verbal domain; higher score on the Block Design subtest. This was not observed in the group of girls.

Do girls with ASDs demonstrate less difficulty in the area of distractibility, slowness in performance??

Caution: small sample size of girls; reduces the power of the statistical test

More research is needed!

Need much larger sample sizes
Need to examine a narrower age range
Need to look at differences within more clearly defined diagnostic categories - e.g., HFA
Need to look at findings for North American youth
Need to look at cognitive profiles of girls with ASDs versus neurotypical females

Eating Attitudes study - review and summary!

2009-01-04T16:14:00.002-06:00

Comparison of Eating Attitudes between Adolescent Girls with and without Asperger Syndrome: Daughters' and Mothers' Reports

Yes eating problems associated with ASDs. All studies have looked at small numbers of males and at BMI, not eating attitudes.

Aims:
- explore eating attitudes of teen girls with AS
- examine level of agreement between mothers’ and daughters’ reports of eating problems

Sample:
- 56 girls with AS and 56 neurotypical girls ages 12-18
- Groups matched on age and BMI; neurotypical girls had higher full-scale IQ scores
- Diagnosed by a multidisciplinary team; used the ADOS
- Mainland Greece

Measures:
Girls and their mothers completed the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (3 subscales: dieting, bulimia and food preoccupation, and oral control); scores above 20 are of concern

Results:
- Teen girls with AS (26%) reported more eating problems than the control girls for bulimia and oral control but not dieting
- Mothers of teen girls with AS also reported more eating problems – across all 3 scales
- Across both groups, daughters report more problems than their mothers do, though the overall agreement between parent-child was high

Discussion:
- Prevalence of eating problems in girls with ASDs may be quite high
- Need longitudinal studies examining histories of eating difficulties and concerns
- Need to understand the social and cognitive similarities between AS and anorexia nervosa, e.g., rigidities, difficulties with reflective self functioning

More research is needed!

Need to look at findings for North American adolescents

Need to look at relationship between eating difficulties and degree of inflexiblity/rigidity overall

Need to examine how to treat eating disordered behavior for teens with AS

Fabulous story about a woman's special interests that have resulted in a very cool career for her!

2009-01-03T08:42:00.002-06:00

Store Owner Manages Despite Mild Form of Autism

It takes patience to have a conversation with businesswoman Gabrielle Lopez. She talks a mile a minute, rarely makes eye contact and frequently goes off on tangents.These tendencies might inhibit a person in sales, but despite living with Asperger's Syndrome and attention deficit disorder, Gabrielle is determined to make a success of Bad Girl Designs, the downtown boutique where she sells vintage clothes and pop culture-inspired accessories she makes, herself..........

http://www.bakersfield.com/102/story/651877.html

Happy new year!

2009-01-01T07:14:00.000-06:00

Happy new year everyone! One of my hopes for the new year is that issues facing females with ASDs will gain more visibility - more research studies, more media articles, more books and resources for parents, professionals, women, and girls themselves.

I have brought home with me from work copies of the three research studies that I posted about earlier. My goal for the weekend is to read each and post a short summary / commentary. Let's see if I'm successful!

May 2009 bring everyone closer to achieving their own goals and those for their families...

Recent article of interest: Girls' autism signs miss early diagnosis

2008-12-28T16:37:00.000-06:00

http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081214/FEAT/812140310

two new studies published in upcoming issues of JADD on gender issues and ASDs

2008-12-28T16:12:00.000-06:00

Just perusing "online first" and January 2009 articles on the website for Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. The following sex-related articles are forthcoming or are in the January 2009 issue.

Comparison of Eating Attitudes between Adolescent Girls with and without Asperger Syndrome: Daughters’ and Mothers’ Reports

Sex Differences in WISC-III Profiles of Children with High-functioning Pervasive Developmental Disorders

Brief Report: Relationship Between Non-verbal IQ and Gender in Autism

Two empirical studies in one issue! Fantastic. We have a very small research group and would love to collaborate with other investigators. Large sample sizes across research groups are going to be needed in order to best understand the experiences and symptom profiles of females with ASDs.

Any thoughts about the direction that research into gender differences in ASDs needs to go?

Happy new year everyone,

Shana.

First Post...

2008-12-23T12:18:00.000-06:00

Off to do some holiday visiting but I'm excited about having a blog dedicated to issues facing girls with ASDs and their families. Will write more later!