Symptoms of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, a Clinical Sample

Objective: The aim of this report was to study the gender role on autism symptoms distribution and severity in a clinical sample from Iran. Then, the results were compared with the published study from the same community population sample, Iran. Methods: The subjects of this retrospective study were a convenient clinical sample of the referrals of children with pervasive developmental disorders. The diagnosis was made according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Results: Most of the subjects were boys. Boys were referred for evaluation more frequently than girls. The sample included 61 children and adolescents aged 2.1 to 15 years ;of whom, 49 had autism. The mean age of children with autism was 7.2(SD=3.2) years. The mean of age, the diagnosis and severity of the symptoms were not related to gender . Conclusion: Usually, those with severe cases of autism refer to clinics for treatment. Therefore, the clinical sample of children with autism is just the tip of the iceberg and they may not be the actual representative of community sample of children with autism. Preventive programs should be more focused on the screening and referring of inflected girls for service utilization.