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Mirror mirror on the wall, what is the fairest early predictor of adult language ability?

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Scientists study motor skills in early development not just because it is one of the first features to emerge, but because it is predictive of later social communication development, and as it turns out, later expressive language development.   A new study combining data from 2 countries shows that early motor deficits predict language abilities all the way up to age 19, so focusing on early motor skills is imperative for early intervention.  Also this week – a review on why those tiny details in genetics of ASD can be so helpful for people across the spectrum and families.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31429087

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31491383

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Infant motor issues and later autism diagnosis

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Everyone knows the way to study infants with autism is through thorough testing of younger siblings of those with a diagnosis, who have a 15x greater chance of have a diagnosis themselves.   Through these methods, new ways of identifying and predicting autism  later on have been developed.  On this week’s podcast:   two very influential and recent papers on the study of motor issues in 6 month olds who go on to be diagnosed with autism, and those  who don’t have an autism diagnosis but have signs and symptoms of ASD.  Are motor issues related to an ASD diagnosis or ASD symptoms?  And what about core symptoms of autism like language?   Can early motor behaviors be used to predict who goes on to receive an autism diagnosis or has language problems?  What should parents do?  How should this influence an early intervention plan?  Learn more this week!

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30628809

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30557704

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What is autism? It’s changing.

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This week, the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Network, or ADDM, was used to look at the changes across time in co-occuring conditions in people with autism, like ADHD, depression, anxiety, language delay and other developmental delay.  They found the frequency of 8 year olds with autism with these co occurring conditions is increasing.  So is the percent of people with autism with intellectual disability.  The data continues to show that in many people, what was autism 20 years ago, is not the same autism seen today.  While depression and anxiety have already been established as co occurring issues, things like hoarding are just starting to be examined.   These results suggest that co-occurring conditions may be one of the features of autism that can separate people into different groups, to improve intervention and treatment opportunities.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30227350

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30178724

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Children are not small adults

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Cathy Lord and her colleagues have been studying a group of people with autism from age 2, all the way through adulthood, at age 19.  Her colleague and first author Vanessa Hus-Bal who is leading the efforts to study adults at a new institute at Rutgers University, talks about the findings and what they mean for people with autism as they get older, and points out the implications on intervention.  Also, the stress response is different in autistic people, but is it different in adolescents and adults, and does it change as people get older?  A social stressor is used to identify how they are different and what it means for treatment.

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If you want to know about people with autism, ask them

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There are relatively few studies using self-report findings on standardized measures from people with autism.  Part of the reason for this is because there aren’t that many of these instruments to begin with.   Scientists are working on that.  But this week, a group from the UK took the existing data from smaller studies using the the Ritvo Autism Asperger Diagnostic Scale (which can be found here:  https://www.aspietests.org/raads/) to look at sex differences.  They found subtle differences between males and females on their language and sensorimotor features.  This indicates males and females experience autism slightly differently.   In addition, a different study interviewed people with autism at different ages to ask how symptoms changed over time and found that features of autism peaked in middle adulthood.  However, close family members, friends or caregivers didn’t always see it that way themselves.  This reiterates the need to collect information from multiple people – including people with autism – to provide better services and supports.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29796237

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29971654

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A different type of autism?

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Last week, investigators with the Autism Treatment Network published a long awaited study on the differences between the DSM IV and DSM5.    Other studies had relied on information on old pieces of paper to judge whether or not someone who met criteria under DSM IV would be now diagnosed with DSM5 criteria.  This study, on the other hand, used in person evaluations of over 400 individuals with autism.  PI from the Missouri site and lead author of a new study, Dr. Micah Mazurek was gracious enough to provide a summary of the findings in the podcast.  A quick preview:  they showed differences in the diagnosis in the group previously known as PDD-NOS.  Is this a new type of autism?  Their symptoms were less severe and they had normal IQ ability – do they have a subtype of autism or a new form of ADHD?  This study isn’t the first to suggest using different categories of symptoms of autism like DSM IV did, and indicates that the new criteria of the DSM  5 are more specific.  In addition, a 2 minute summary of all the great presentations at the Autism Society of America is given.  Totally insufficient to describe everything that went on, but it’s a start.

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The Young and the Deaf: the relevance to language development in autism

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This week two important studies which examine early influences of language development are explored.  First, we are lucky that Dr. Aaron Shield from Miami University joined to explain why studying children who are deaf and have autism, as well as parents of deaf children, are important for understanding language development.  He explores how autism is different and the same in those who are and are not deaf.  Second, study of very early speech, even before language emerges, may help guide speech and language therapists about how they should be dividing their time in therapy in toddlers, especially those with a high probability of developing ASD.  Thank you to both Drs. Shield and Chenausky for sharing their findings with us!

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New science for those with little or no language

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Even though more than 20% of people with autism have little or no language, research into ways to help this group have really been lacking.  Several efforts to not just understand the abilities and disabilities of this group started a few years ago and we are just starting to hear about what works and what doesn’t work to improve communication in those with little or no language.  This podcast summarizes the evidence, which points to combinations of things, rather than things in isolation, and peeks in on ways in which interventions can be better directed and made more effective.