Abstract
The aim of this study was to delve into the role of gender differences in social inclusion of children and youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID). A sample of 420 participants with ASD and ID aged between 4 and 21 years was evaluated using the ASD-KidsLife Scale. Females obtained lower scores in most of the items of social inclusion. These differences remained when the covariables of level of ID, support needs, and age were controlled. None of the items presented differential item functioning as a function of gender. Gender differences, as were found in social inclusion, are discussed and recommendations are given in order to provide equal opportunities to girls and boys with ASD.
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The authors would like to thank all those organizations, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, professionals, and families their involvement and participation in this research.
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This work is part of doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of Oviedo (Spain) by the first author and has been funded by the Ministry of Economic and Competitiveness of Spain (PSI2012-33139) and the and the Ministry of Education and Culture of Asturias (BP16007).
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MLM, LEG and MAA conceived of the study; All authors designed the study and helped to draft the manuscript; LEG and MAA coordinated the study; MLM, LEG and MAA performed the measurement; IP and MLM performed the statistical analysis. All authors participated in the interpretation of data, read and approved the final manuscript.
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Morán, M.L., Gómez, L.E., Alcedo, M.Á. et al. Gender Differences in Social Inclusion of Youth with Autism and Intellectual Disability. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 2980–2989 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04030-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04030-z