This week’s podcast includes Storyform Science founders H. Adam Steinberg and Holly Kerby, both scientists who now help other scientists use storytelling to convey the importance of their findings to a broad community. Anyone can do it, and it is so important to help communicate to the public, convince policymakers to listen and granters to … Continue reading "Helping science tell a story"
Gene therapies have been in the news lately. They are being used to help individuals who have a genetic variant linked to a disorder or disease, including but not limited to: spinal muscular atrophy, carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1 (CPS1) deficiency, diabetes and some types of cancers. What is the promise in rare genetic forms of … Continue reading "Genetic therapies in store for neurodevelopmental disorders"
The NIH has launched the new Autism Data Science Initiative: https://dpcpsi.nih.gov/autism-data-science-initiative/funding-opportunities#section1, which brings questions about why linking different data sets is important. It can be done without including personal identifying information, and it should be done following ethical guidelines. If done correctly, using large datasets can answer questions relating to treatment, cause, better identification and … Continue reading "What we learn from lin...
This year’s International Society of Autism Research Meeting was filled with great presentations about causes, diagnosis, interventions, mechanisms, supports, understanding sex differences and different populations of those with autism. But not everyone could fly to Seattle to attend. This week’s podcast provides a short summary of just some of the science presented. Michael Lombardo provided … Continue reading "News from the International Society for Autism Research Meeting, 2025"...
With the International Society for Autism Research underway and a new wave of misunderstanding about scientific evidence in autism, it’s time to think about what is science, how is it conducted, and why does it take so long? Who benefits from science and how? This is just the start, but gives a quick overview of … Continue reading "Why science?"
There is a cell in the brain called the microglia which has been traditionally overlooked as a target for therapies. New research supported by ASF and @FraxAresearch suggests that altering the function of microglia in the brain may help support the development of healthy and functional connections in the brain that may be impaired in … Continue reading "Microglia as a target for new interventions"
Catatonia is a syndrome which includes immobility, stupor, and sometimes regression in psychiatric wellness or even ability to feed or take care of ones self. This syndrome is seen in autism about 10% of the time but is is often overlooked or misdiagnosed. This may be because the symptoms are relatively rare or because catatonia … Continue reading "Let’s talk about catatonia"
Contextual factors, or external factors, are environmental influences and can impact not just a diagnosis but the life course of a person with autism and their families. A recent commentary by autism researchers around the world highlights the importance of these factors and provides resources on how they can be collected in a rigorous, but … Continue reading "Contextual Factors in Autism: What took us so long?"
Today’s #ASFpodcast explains the potential and the unknowns behind folate, known as leucovorin when prescribe, for treating autism. CBSNews reported on a “miraculous” study using leucovorin that will need further research before it lives up to the type. However, it is an example of how different biological markers may direct what treatments work best in … Continue reading "Is folate an evidence-based treatment for autism?"
The past couple of weeks have been a flurry of decisions involving government funding for research and health and wellness services. It’s been difficult to understand their impact without understanding the process in which science is evaluated for funding and policies around support of universities where the research takes place. In this podcast, we will … Continue reading "An Explanation of Some of the Recent Scientific Research Announcements"...
On this week’s podcast, Dr. Elaine Clarke from @RutgersU discusses the role of adaptive behavior. This refers to the wide range of skills that a person with autism can exhibit. Can they hold a conversation? Dress themselves? Prepare a meal? These sets of skills are strongly influenced by cognitive ability. Dr. Clarke will talk about … Continue reading "How IQ impacts the “will do” of skills: adaptive behaviors"
Two therapies that are meant to alter brainwave activity, called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation are receiving a lot of attention for potential efficacy in treating autism. They are non-invasive, which means treatment is provided on the scalp. While results vary, the overall evidence does not support these two interventions in helping … Continue reading "Do Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Direct Current Stimulation help people with autism? The ...
It happens every year – this one belonged in the 2024 year end highlights but was published late in the year. Researchers at UCSD, UCLA and CHLA followed families with autism whose genetic test revealed a rare variant. Did it make a difference in care? Understanding? Referrals? If you are in need of a genetic … Continue reading "We missed one for the 2024 year end summary: Proof of the importance of genetic testing in autism"
New Technologies, New Data, New Solutions This year’s progress in autism research includes promising findings, clarifications, explanations, and the uncovering of new avenues of inquiry. The focus is now on personalized medicine: finding the right treatment for the right person at the right time through targeted interventions. Advances in technology and genetic testing are opening … Continue reading "The 2024 Autism Science Year in Review"...
While it may not seem like it, the COVID-19 pandemic brought some advances in care and understanding for people on the spectrum. One example is the development and validity of remotely administered assessments that families can participate in from home rather than travel to a clinic. These tools were built out of necessity, and are … Continue reading "Online autism assessments as a perk of the pandemic"
This week, special podcast correspondent #MiaKotikovski summarizes new research on the increasing prevalence of autism, with a focus on females. While the number of diagnosed females is increasing faster than the number for males, females assigned at birth still are less likely to receive a diagnosis than males. Additional evidence points to females having more … Continue reading "An update on why there are fewer autistic females compared to males"...
….or at a podcast with at least an attempt at an explanation of what synaptic density is and how it is affected in brains of people with autism. This week we review three convergent lines of evidence – whole brain, brain cell then genes within those brain cells – that show that the autistic brain … Continue reading "Synaptic Density and Autism, explained"
Are you the grandparent, cousin, aunt, uncle, sibling, or half-sibling of someone with autism and wondered “what is the likelihood of autism in families, and the likelihood of comorbid conditions if I have a family member with autism?” Researchers at the AJ Drexel Autism Research Institute and Aarhus University in Denmark collaborated to calculate probabilities … Continue reading "Health Concerns Across 3 Generations"
Despite many years fighting it, families with autism still experience societal stigma. The experiences depend on many factors, summarized in the October 21st podcast. This week, Mia Kotikovski explores cultural factors involved in stigma. As examples, she explores the literature from Asia, the Middle East and the United Kingdom, how they are different, and how … Continue reading "Stigma experienced around the world"
Animal models of autism, including cell based models, have received criticism because autism is a uniquely human condition so there is no value in studying it in a model like a mouse or a cell. On the other hand, model systems have been used for decades to develop therapies for a myraid of other conditions … Continue reading "The Importance of Model Systems"
This week, part 1 in cultural stigma around autism with Mia Kotikovski provides an overview of stigma, where it can come from across cultures and provides some examples of stigma in different countries. Different areas of the world are in different places in terms of their perceptions of autism, their needs for autism families, and … Continue reading "Where is autism stigma the worst in the world?"
Understanding factors that make each person with autism different has been a challenge, affecting diagnosis, interventions and the way we think about autism in general. Researchers at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto, Italy, used computers to see how language, intellectual ability, motor and adaptive functioning grouped individuals into different categories. It turns out there are … Continue reading "Factors That Influence Heterogeity and How"...
A few years after the start of the pandemic, and a couple of years into “recovery”, scientists are still disentangeling the effects of COVID-19 lockdowns and exposure. For example, is there an uptick in autism screen positives when pregnant mothers fell ill? Were there diagnostic disparities based on co-morbid conditions? Did autistic people feel better … Continue reading "Post-Pandemic Problems"
In part 2 of the GI series in ASD, a new paper in the Journal of Nutrition and Gastroenterology describing the www.candidgi.com meeting is described. While sometimes doctors may be know-it-alls, sometimes they do not know-it-all and need experts to advise them, especially when they encounter individuals who may be hard to diagnose and treat. … Continue reading "Catching up with CANDID"
In the first of a two-part series on digestive health in ASD, Mia Kotikovski summarizes scientific information about what the complicated microbiome is, how it influences physical and psychiatric health, if it is altered in autism, and what causes it to be different in ASD.
New research points to a previously understudied but fascinating mechanism by which environmental factors may lead to autism: it’s called the “GABA/glutamate switch” which is a critical period in development when certain cells turn from turning on cell activity to turning them off. These environmental factors may delay this process leading to long term effects … Continue reading "More about the environmental influences in autism"
This week, special correspondent Mia Kotikovski discusses challenges in getting emergency care for those with autism, what doctors and hospitals can do to ease the stressors associated with places like the ER. This is a huge issue for families as many “simple” ER visits for their autistic family members can cause such stress it provokes … Continue reading "Dealing with an ER visit"
Instead of grouping together people with autism based on traditional severity scores, what if groupings were done based on functional outcome? Would this help better understand the broad spectrum of autism and why some people with autism are so different than others? Researchers at the University of Minnesota led by Kyle Sterrett, together with UCLA … Continue reading "Profound Autism: The first meaningful autism subgroup"
During sleep, your brain is still active. It is turning all those things you learned during the day into long term memories through connections between the thalamus, hippocampus and frontal cortex. What happens in Profound Autism? How does the brain work during sleep and how will this knowledge lead to better sleep in people? Are … Continue reading "What happens during sleep?"
In part 1 of a 3 part series on Profound Autism, ASF interviews Emily Ferguson, PhD from @Stanford shares what she learned by asking parents and caregivers of Profound Autism “what do you need?” The short answer was: “There is No Help“. The responses were overwhelmingly focused on inclusion in any program or service, since … Continue reading "What do Profound Autism Caregivers Need?"
