A-203 Method Matters: Measures of Social Communication Ability Disagree in Women with Autistic Traits

Abstract

Abstract Objective Increasing evidence suggests that many women with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be undiagnosed and thus denied access to supports and interventions. Evaluating suspected ASD involves assessing social communication abilities, and many potentially helpful tools exist. We sought to compare various social communication measures (self-report, clinician-rated, and behavioral) in a sample of women with autistic traits. Method Our sample includes women without intellectual impairment (N = 66; age M = 25 years; IQ M = 114; 63 White) who reported impairing symptoms associated with ASD (BAPQ total score > 3). One third (n = 22) had been diagnosed with ASD. Participants were recruited through local clinics, a university counseling center, and social media. Participants completed the SRS-2 (self-report), ADOS-2 (clinician rating of autistic traits), and TASIT-S (video-based test of social cognition). Results As expected, women with a previous diagnosis of ASD showed significantly more social communication difficulties on the ADOS-2, t(64) = −4.88, p < .001, and TASIT-S, t(64) = 2.23, p = .03. Observable social difficulties on the ADOS-2 were significantly associated with poor performance on the TASIT-S (rS = −.27, p = .03). However, women with an ASD diagnosis did not report more social communication problems on the SRS-2, and SRS-2 scores were not associated with ADOS-2 or TASIT-S scores. Conclusions These findings highlight the importance of using a multi-method approach when assessing social communication abilities in women with suspected autism, as self-report measures may not discriminate well mild from more severe impairment, and may disagree with clinician ratings and/or behavioral measures.