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Factors That Influence Heterogeity and How

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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 two groups – one group that improves over time and outperforms the other group consistently even in early life. The other group continues to struggle. These factors are not autism-specific, but do influence the creation of these different groups that are different biologically as well as behaviorally. This week’s podcast is an interview with the researchers on what it means for the future of understanding what might help what person at what time in their life.

The publication is open access and includes the model so their findings can be replicated widely: https://molecularautism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13229-024-00613-5

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Missed the Meeting on Language in Autism? Listen to this podcast

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Last week in North Carolina, the Meeting on Language in Autism was held, with 3 days of amazing presentations and lots of productive discussions about how language and speech develops and how people with autism communicate. This podcast describes the origins of language development and how intervention during toddlerhood can promote lifelong language abilities. To learn more about the meeting go to www.mola.org and to see the Autism Navigator, go to www.autismnavigator.org.

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Learn about your infant’s development from your own home

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Are you the parent of an infant? Are you wondering how you can get assessments on your child without having to struggle with your pediatrician’s time at a well- baby checkup? Are you interested in how your baby is thinking or communicating but your doctor says “it’s too early to tell?” A new study based out of Duke University is using remote computer based assessments to understand the very earliest markers of language and cognition to better predict later social development. The twist? It’s all done remotely. You can participate in research, get a gift card, and learn about your baby’s development all without leaving the house. This has been a struggle for many families and this may open the door for more video-based, but thorough, assessments.

Children Helping Science

sites.duke.edu/risebattery

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Speak now

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Those who are minimally verbal or non speaking represent about 25% of those with an autism diagnosis, yet there is really a lack of effective interventions for this group of autistic individuals. It used to be that everyone who was non-speaking was thought to have minimal ability to understand language, since understanding and speaking are so linked in development. However, group at Boston University studied the largest group of non-speaking autistic individuals so far and discovered that about 25% of them understand more language than they can speak, although this ability is still far lower than those who are neurotypical. The other 75% understand about as much as they can communicate verbally. This indicates that in some cases, the ability to understand words and their meaning exceeds the ability to communicate those ideas verbally. Surprise surprise, just like everything autism – there are differences across the spectrum. Thanks to Yanru Chen at Boston University for explaining the study to us.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aur.3079

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attention attention…this is the INSAR 2023 summary

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Last week in Stockholm, Sweden, 2200 researchers and scientists working to understand and help those on the spectrum, met to share their most recent findings and exchange ideas. What were the main takeaways as ASF saw them? We cover why some autistic people don’t want genetics to be studied, how to better engage families with IDD and who are non-speaking, females, adults, international studies and yes, diversity. The program book was released a day before the meeting and can be found here: https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.autism-insar.org/resource/resmgr/docs/annualmeeting/insar2023_program_book.pdf

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The full semantic toolbox referring to autism

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Last week a publication (see below) was published as a commentary in the journal Autism Research. It states that researchers, parents, clinicians, educators and the overall community should not be limited in their use of language to describe the broad condition of autism. Some people experience impairments, deficits, and have limitations. Not only is it true, we should be talking about it. This podcast describes the motivation for the paper and the potential consequences of mandating the use terms that may not accurately reflect the diversity of experiences. While some papers have been published with the opposite sentiments, it’s important to understand both sides of this debate. We hope this paper leads to further conversation about this topic.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aur.2876

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Bilingualism: is it best?

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This week’s podcast explores the question about whether or not it is beneficial or just confusing to teach your child with autism multiple languages, or suppress the use of more than one language at home. Turns out, being bilingual helps with executive functioning (or those with preserved executive functioning can be bilingual), language, and provides benefits in verbal IQ depending on SES. In other words, it’s not harmful, it can be helpful, and those who choose to speak two languages at home should continue to do so if they feel that it is enhancing their child’s learning. More information in the links below:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35102760/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34813032/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36222993/

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“Profound” Autism

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On Tuesday, the journal Lancet published a 2+ year long endeavor around understanding the heterogeneity of autism not just in features but in access to services for individuals and families across the world. They called for a stepped care to help individualize and prioritize needs in different individuals based on their needs, not their diagnosis. They also called for the label of “profound autism” which describes individuals with very different outcomes compared to those who have a higher verbal and cognitive ability. Recognizing everyone needs supports and help, the “profound autism” label needs different supports, like different employment situations and different living accommodations. Thankfully, to authors, Dr. Catherine Lord from UCLA and Alison Singer from ASF explain the article and the impact they hope it makes on the field.

The article is open access but you have to register to download a copy, here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01541-5/fulltext

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Have things changed for the autism community in the last 40 years?

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On this week’s podcast, we interview Dr. Giacomo Vivanti from the AJ Drexel Autism Institute who, together with Daniel Messinger from University of Miami, wrote an analysis of how research and intervention have changed since the DSMIII was written 40 years ago. They include theories of the causes of autism, the theories of the deficits and strengths of autism as it has changed over time, as well as intervention styles to meet the expanding understanding of autism. You can read the paper below, but Dr. Vivanti gives a great summary in a 30 minute interview!

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33491120/

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Talk talk talk…..it may make a difference to your infant

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Children and infants who later go on to have an autism diagnosis show impairments in communication. Is there anything that parents can do? Yes! Talk. Talk in complicated sentences. Talk responsively and keep it up. This isn’t always an inherent skill, it’s learned, and in this podcast we talk about the biological basis of why infants with ASD are more sensitive to verbal input, how hyposensory features are involved and what you can do to improve your verbal responsiveness that needs to be different for your child with ASD

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34128355/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34185234/

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