Today’s podcast is also the podcast of The Autism Dad, an amazing man named Rob Gorski with 3 kids. He talks openly and honestly about his struggles, joys, and lessons. Please listen to us on this podcast and continue to listen to him! https://listen.theautismdad.com
The autism brain at 3 months old
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Biological features of ASD can be seen long before behavioral impairments in children are seen. Researchers are now studying the activity of the brain at 3 months in infants that go on to develop autism and those that do not. There are distinct features in the brain seen in a 3 month old that goes on to develop ASD. In addition, excessive brain activity resulting in seizures can increase the probability of a later ASD diagnosis in infants with a rare genetic disorder called Tuberous Sclerosis. This podcast will explain how connectivity and activity in a 3 month old can influence a later diagnosis. What we don’t know more about is those intervening months, and what can be done to mitigate symptoms.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2451902220301403?via%3Dihub
WEAR A MASK
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It’s been about 6 months since the COVID-19 pandemic began in the United States, longer in Asia and some parts of Europe. While scientists still don’t know the direct effects of COVID-19 in pregnant women on later development of their children, they do know about ASD following other neuroinflammatory responses. These include things like the flu, UTI’s, herpes, and other things that cause inflammation and immune disruption. This podcast reviews the evidence so far in humans and animals, with the goal of helping people understand that the threat is real, and that wearing a mask is not a mark that you do not have the freedom to do so. It is a reflection that you understand that the world is victim of a pandemic, and you want to protect others from getting sick.
Autism research around the world during this pandemic
It’s been over 6 months since this pandemic started. This isn’t just a U.S. problem, this is a worldwide shutdown of all biomedical research designed to help families with everything from autism to diabetes to cancer to multiple sclerosis. So how are autism researchers adapting? What are their concerns for the future that they want families to know about? A recent issue of Autism Research asked scientists from around the globe what their most pressing problems were and how they were addressing them to help families. This week’s podcast summarizes them and focuses on similarities across different geographical regions.
You can read all the articles FREE here: https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2329
What the h**l is an induced pluripotent stem cell?
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The words “induced pluripotent stem cell” refer to a group of cells that are gathered from a person with a disorder, like autism, then changed or “induced” from a skin cell into an embryonic “stem” cell, and can be then made into baby brain cells, or baby heart cells or baby bone cells. This makes them “pluripotent”. This tool has been used in neurodevelopment disorders to help illustrate when the wiring of the brain starts to go off course. Things start to happen very early after conception and one of the only ways to study these things is by using either embryonic cells or these induced embryonic “stem cells”. The latter is more cost effective and more precise. This technology has an incredibly high potential in understanding autism, but it may never be used as a treatment. Nevertheless, knowing how and when brain development deviates is essential for understanding people with ASD.
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-030-45493-7.pdf
Pandemic Problems? ASD Researchers are Listening
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You have spoken, and scientists have listened, to surveys that have asked how you are doing, what your family needs, what is working and what has not worked. Telehealth gets mixed reviews, and kids are suffering from everything from anxiety to OCD. Other results of these surveys are covered in this week’s ASF podcast. Please continue to answer these requests for feedback, because the future of autism interventions, assessments and services depends on them.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32515992/
Autistic Black Lives Matter
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Racial and ethnic disparities in autism care is not new, the lower age of diagnosis and lack of care for these families have been reported for years. While they have always been unacceptable, in light of recent events, it’s time to reconsider what scientists should be doing about them. A systematic review identifies what is going on with regards to access to interventions and their efficacy. Another study successfully collaborates Part C Early Intervention providers to reach families of color to improve screening. And finally, researchers not even focused on autism provide a perspective on how far and wide this problem reaches. Autism Science Foundation maintains their commitment to working together with other organizations to eradicate these disparities once and for all.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=32238530
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04429-z
Sex differences: It’s not about the diagnostic measurements.
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A fresh take on an existing topic: why there are more boys diagnosed with ASD than girls. Even from a few months old, girls are different than boys, and they show subtle differences in toddlerhood. But at the time of diagnosis, they score the same on standardized instruments of ASD used to categorize someone as having ASD or not. This means it isn’t about the measures. It could be cultural factors, it could be a protective effect, but there needs to be a better understanding of these differences across the lifespan to help everyone with ASD, especially females.
Families work hard for treatments
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Unfortunately, families hear more about what does work to help families with ASD rather than what does not work. But through the course of decades of research, scientific projects and hours of families participation, there is a better picture of what treatments are, and are not, helpful. This week’s podcast will review what drugs have shown to not be effective so far in treating restrictive and repetitive behaviors and also provides an update on umbilical cord blood stem cell transfusions on social communication behaviors.
Autistic Adults Advise and Advance Research
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Have you ever heard of an initiative called “Autistic Adults and other Stakeholders Engaged Together”? If you have, you know their goal is to ensure that autistic perspectives are included in future scientific research. They recently published an article that summarized the research that autistic people feel is critical, and what is missing, and what needs to be done. They concluded most of the research done so far is applicable to males without intellectual disability. That needs to change. Speaking of adults, how many adults are autistic? Is it 5 million? Maybe, maybe not, but it is still unclear even after a recent publication. Listen to hear more.
To learn more about AASET click here
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32390461
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10803-020-04494-4.pdf