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Health Concerns Across 3 Generations

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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 between autism in a person and dozens of other comorbid conditions in family members. They not only made the paper open to the public for everyone to read it, but they also created a publicly available data visualization tool so anyone can go on and look at specific situations of particular family relationships relating to anything from autoimmune conditions to mental health and psychiatric diagnosis. Links below for reference:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39283002

Interactive graphs: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/diana.schendel/viz/ASDPlots_16918786403110/e-Figure5

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Post-Pandemic Problems

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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 over time during the pandemic? This week’s #ASFpodcast explores these questions using new longitudinal data sets designed to better understand the long term impacts of the pandemic.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/39312236

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jar.13300

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39228920

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Recurrence rates for families with an ASD child

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What is the probability of having a future child with autism if you already have one or more? Families want to know. It helps preparation, planning, will hopefully improve early screening and supports. The Baby Siblings Research Consortium analyzed a bigger group of siblings compared to their 2011 numbers and found the recurrence pretty stable – 1 in 5 siblings will have an autism diagnosis compared to 1 in 36 in the general population. However, this number depends on a lot of things: Sex of infant, sex of sibling with an existing ASD diagnosis, number of autistic children in the family, race and socioeconomic status. Listen this week to hear all the numbers.

https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/doi/10.1542/peds.2023-065297/197777/Familial-Recurrence-of-Autism-Updates-From-the?autologincheck=redirected

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38973707

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How does autism prediction work?

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This podcast provides updates on studies that help with prediction of an autism diagnosis – which is important for preparing for the future and for intervening early. First, a study that uses environmental factors to create an equation for the probability of a diagnosis following a combination of of non-genetic factors only which does a fairly good, but not perfect, job at predicting a diagnosis. Second, a study that looks at the accuracy of a machine that predicts autism from eye gaze as early as 9 months of age and with only a 2 minute test. This one wasn’t as accurate as the one that takes longer and tests older kids, but it’s a first step. No ONE thing does a perfect job at predicting a diagnosis – it’s going to be a combination of things, tested over time and multiple times that will be most helpful at predicting a diagnosis. Both studies are open access!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10904522/pdf/fpsyt-15-1291356.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/38429348/

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Genetics does not equal eugenics

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Sometimes when the autism community hears the words “genetics research”, it conjures up images of using genetics to eliminate people with autism. In fact, that’s not the goal of genetics research, nor is it even possible. Recently, several new studies were publish which illustrate how genetics can be used to help people understand their diagnosis, and receive more targeted supports. Special guest Jonathan Sebat from UCSD provides perspective on these findings and why genetics research is misunderstood.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35654973/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35654974/

https://www.genome.gov/event-calendar/irreducible-subjects-disability-and-genomics-in-the-past-present-and-future

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Environmental factors as both causes and interventions?

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Environmental exposures, including toxic chemicals, can contribute to the causes of ASD. But how do other environmental factors, like behavioral supports, work in the brain to improve behaviors associated with ASD? For this, you need a broad interpretation of the term “environmental” and an animal model so you can see the mechanism involved. Studies show while environmental factors can contribute, they can also provide modifications in cellular and molecular function which support learning and improved developmental trajectory. Finally, on a different topic, are autistic adults more likely to be involved in a crime compared to other groups? No, they are not, but there are factors which affect the risk of being involved with the criminal justice system, at least in the UK. Read more in the studies below.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34972219/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35259351/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35261275/

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Violent criminal behavior, screen time, and inter pregnancy interval – not all related to each other but all relevant to ASD

Many media reports have linked autism to violent criminal behavior, but statistically, autistic people are more likely to be the victims but not the perpetrators of violence. So what ELSE is going on in those with ASD who have committed a violent crime? A study in The Netherlands delves into this by collecting information on violent criminals with an ASD diagnosis. Also, families are always concerned about the time their kids spend on their screens, and COVID caused even more screen time – think about all the time spent in online school. But is it harmful? Are there benefits? And does it depend on the type of screen time? Listen to this week’s podcast to find out.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34500347/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34483995/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34423916/