Autism Affects 4X More Boys Than It Does Girls; Here’s Why

In one of my very first YouTube videos, I discussed why men (contrary to what they may think), were in fact, the weaker sex — being more vulnerable to infection than women; with weaker immune systems that were less able to fight pathogens and disease.

It appears that this vulnerability also extends to autism with boys being up to four times more likely to be affected by autism than girls are.

If you’re anything like me you might find that pretty odd and you’re probably already wondering why autism has this weird gender preference..

One of the most popular theories as to why autism affects more boys than it does girls is Simon Baron-Cohen’s “Extreme Male Brain Theory.”

This theory, however, doesn’t exist in isolation, it itself is rooted in Leo Kanner’s foundational work from 1943.

In 1943, Leo Kanner published the first known scientific description of childhood autism and he made the remarkable observation then that many of the symptoms of autism appeared to him to be an “extreme variant of male intelligence.”