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The risk of dementia in older adults

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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34378867/

There have been several small, or small-ish, studies looking at the link between dementia and autism or ID. However, recently, the largest medical record study of 500k people, 12k of which were autistic and 26k were autistic and had ID, examining early onset dementia was published. Those with ASD had a 1.9 increased risk for dementia and it was even higher for those with ASD + ID. Why? Is it psychological or biological or both? Researchers at the AJ Drexel Autism Institute investigate.

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Super, Superb and Sensational Siblings

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Siblings of people on the spectrum, including autistic adults, are amazing. They support, advocate, fundraise, and now we know they actually have a direct influence on the outcome of their affected brother or sister. What’s that effect? When is it most obvious? Does gender or race matter? All of these questions will be answered by Nicole Rosen of UCLA on this week’s #ASFpodcast. And make sure to tune on on September 8th to or Sam’s Sibs Stick Together webinar. Info below.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34120483/

https://autismsciencefoundation.org/resources/sams-sibs-stick-together/
click here for a link to register for September 8th
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Food Insecurity and COVID for families with ASD

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Food insecurity during the pandemic is affecting us all, but even before the pandemic it was a greater problem in families affected by ASD. Now, during the pandemic and restrictions in access to food, food programs at schools and unemployment, it’s an even bigger problem. Dr. Arun Kapur from Autism Speaks describes his study examining the rates of food insecurity before and during the pandemic, and a study by Purdue University ties those insecurities to problem behavior in children and adults with ASD. This is a problem we can work on solving together, and society needs to have a better fallback for these basic needs.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34147945/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34075809/