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Puberty Project
Liliana Ruta, Erin Ingudomnukul, Simon Baron-Cohen, Sally Wheelwright

Although there were one or two small scale studies (from Holland) looking at puberty in autism, suggesting boys with autism enter puberty earlier than average, there has never been a large scale study of this important phase in development. Puberty is of interest as a marker for endocrine function or dysfunction. Our survey of testosterone-related medical conditions suggested delayed puberty in women with Asperger Syndrome, and their mothers, and this was confirmed in an independent sample by our group. This new study will study puberty year by year during adolescence, measuring hormonal changes via blood samples, to obtain a more detailed longitudinal description of endocrine changes in autism.



References:



375
E. Ingudomnukul, S. Baron-Cohen, S. Wheelwright and R. Knickmeyer, (2007)
Elevated rates of testosterone-related disorders in women with autism spectrum conditions
Hormones and Behavior 
365
R. Knickmeyer, S. Baron-Cohen, R. Hoekstra and S. Wheelwright, (2006)
Age of menarche in females with autism spectrum conditions
Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology 48:1007-1008


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