You know how I have been saying that maybe in pre-industrial times (or even sooner than that) that there were specific societal roles for someone with Asperger’s?

Well, someone else is kinda thinking along those lines too. She’s wondering about autistic girls from days gone by, since the big articles came out about how girls with autism present so differently than guys with autism (duh!).

One interesting quote she used from the NYT article is this:

    High systemizing together with low empathy correlates with social and communication deficits and, at the extreme end of the scale, with autism…. Baron-Cohen says that he believes that autistic girls are strong systemizers. That quality may manifest itself in letters rather than numbers.

But in his view, the thought processes for Asperger’s girls mirror those of boys. He explains, “These females often feel more compatibility with typical males simply because typical males may be more willing to adhere to the linear, step-by-step form of thinking and conversation — more like debating or playing chess or doing logic.

That kind of strikes a chord with me, and not because I think I have Asperger’s. For me, the being more compatible with males is a social thing I have been conditioned to thanks to my five brothers and my choices in likes and careers. And I have to say, it’s not typical males, it’s GEEKY males. Or at least smart and clever. I think it’s a very common geek-girl scenario – you have a few close girl friends, but TONS of geeky guy friends. I think it’s more because it’s hard to find girls who appreciate that you are into so many “boy things”.
I wonder what Brianna thinks about that statement? Anyways, how do you tease out the social influences and only focus on the neurological patterns when you are studying this kind of thing?