Yahoo Parenting – Rachel Grumman Bender
“While scientists are still unraveling the many causes of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) — from exposure to air pollution during pregnancy to gestational diabetes — there’s one thing they know for sure: Boys are diagnosed with ASD much more often than girls. In fact, for every four boys with ASD, only one girl has the condition. With high-functioning autism, the ratio is even higher, with seven boys for every one girl…Certain gene mutations — both inherited and new, spontaneous ones — increase the risk of developing autism. Several studies…have found that females are able to withstand higher numbers of these harmful mutations — such as large amounts of missing or duplicated DNA — than boys before developing autism.”(more)