Posted on

The sad realities behind educational services and ASD

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Whoops, Donald Trump did it again.  During the Republican debates, comments around vaccines and autism were made that could cause more confusion.  This at a time when the matter should be settled in the minds of the public.  ASF president Alison Singer comments on what people should know.  Also, a new analysis examines the types of services people with developmental delay and ASD receive in the educational system.  Here’s a not-surprising sneak peak:  they are getting less than they deserve and have to go elsewhere despite laws stating otherwise.  Finally, an older drug for depression, called Effexor, may both relieve behavioral problems associated with ASD and lower the doses of anti anxiety drugs and antipsychotic drugs needed to calm irritability and aggression.

Posted on

Sex differences in autism symptoms, and anxiety and depression too

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Dr. Katherine Gotham from Vanderbilt University graciously joins us to talk about changes in anxiety and depression in females and males with autism across time and why these findings have consequences for diagnosis and treatment of not just autism but co-occuring conditions.  Also, males and females with autism have differences in brain structure that may explain some symptoms of autism.  You may have read the story in the media but hear the breakdown on this week’s podcast.

Posted on

Females with autism and the idea of an ‘extreme male’ brain

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

New studies were published this week highlighting differences, or lack of differences, in males and females with autism.  This podcast explores one of these theories called the ‘Extreme Male Brain’ theory which is actively studied by Simon Baron-Cohen’s lab in the United Kingdom.  While this theory suggests that males and females with autism are more alike than different, another study focused on those individuals with autism who were not diagnosed until later in life.  Were they able to mask their symptoms for autism and slide under the radar and how?  In this group, males and females are more different than alike, which reinforces the ideas that you can’t study people with autism without studying people without autism, and that the differences between males and females may be subtle, based on context, and time of life.

Posted on

Unique strengths in some people with ASD

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

We almost always hear about how people with autism show deficits in certain behaviors, but what about features that may be an advantage?  A new study from the UK offers some scientific insight on how people with autism exhibit thinking styles that are not as fixed and rigid as ‘neurotypicals’.   Where does this come from?  And is it on the opposite of the genetic coin as things that produce problems in people with ASD?   I mention one task in the study, here’s the image:

Screen Shot 2015-08-21 at 8.44.13 AM

Posted on

Can people with autism lose their diagnosis?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Researchers have been studying a small group of individuals who were diagnosed with autism, then later no longer met criteria for diagnosis.  Most of these people received early intense behavioral intervention before the age of 3, and what is called “optimal outcome” by researchers is the exception, not the rule.  However, a new study explores where they are no longer showing symptoms, and where they still are.  Also, ASF postdoctoral fellow Aarthi Padmanabhan explains her data on the brain structure of girls and boys with autism.  A sneak peak:  girls are different than boys.

Posted on

Help for symptoms of anxiety in autism and understanding very early signs of autism in girls

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

About 40% of individuals with autism experience symptoms of anxiety. Despite this, clinicians still treat anxiety in autism the same way they treat anxiety in people without autism because there has not been enough research.  However, this week a new study was published which reviews and summarizes almost a dozen studies on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in autism, showing that it is effective when given in group and individual sessions.  Also, I talk to Dr. Clare Harrop from UCLA about why it isn’t enough to study people with autism at just younger ages or at older ages, and what types of research is needed.

Posted on

Targeting environmental chemicals in neurodevelopmental disorders

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

This week a group of experts met to build consensus around the effects of environmental chemicals on the developing brain. Autism was part of this discussion. And a new large-scale study shows that c-sections do not cause autism, it is something else related to c-sections.