I think MBlume’s point was that there is a fairly mainstream theory of autism spectrum disorders (which includes Asperger’s) that claims they can be explained as extreme cases of the ‘male brain’. If there is a correlation between the male brain traits that in extreme form are diagnosed as autism/Asperger’s and the patterns of thinking that would lead to an interest in this community and if it is true that autism/Asperger’s fall on a continuum rather than being discretely identifiable conditions then the gender bias observed here could be explained by the same factors that explain the gender bias in these conditions.
The implicit hypothesis here is that the average community member on this site would score higher on tests designed to diagnose autism spectrum disorders than the general population, without necessarily scoring high enough to be diagnosed with the condition. That seems at least plausible to me.
I think MBlume’s point was that there is a fairly mainstream theory of autism spectrum disorders (which includes Asperger’s) that claims they can be explained as extreme cases of the ‘male brain’. If there is a correlation between the male brain traits that in extreme form are diagnosed as autism/Asperger’s and the patterns of thinking that would lead to an interest in this community and if it is true that autism/Asperger’s fall on a continuum rather than being discretely identifiable conditions then the gender bias observed here could be explained by the same factors that explain the gender bias in these conditions.
The implicit hypothesis here is that the average community member on this site would score higher on tests designed to diagnose autism spectrum disorders than the general population, without necessarily scoring high enough to be diagnosed with the condition. That seems at least plausible to me.