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Why developmental milestones are so telling

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Thanks to Dr. Susan Kuo at Broad Research Institute and MIT, there is an analysis of 17,000 individuals with autism across 4 different studies that all looked at how developmental milestones emerged. The results show a great deal of diversity – across different studies, time, intellectual disability and genetic background. Different groups of people with autism have different experiences based on some commonalities. But all people with autism showed a delay in many milestones. They are important for understanding people with autism, changes across time in the diagnostic criteria, and their impact on later abilities.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2794306?utm_campaign=articlePDF&utm_medium=articlePDFlink&utm_source=articlePDF&utm_content=jamapediatrics.2022.2423

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A deeper dive into racial disparities in ASD diagnosis

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The racial and ethnic disparities in the diagnosis of ASD has always been unacceptable, but it’s been hard to figure out. This week, researchers published their findings from a close look at 500 African American families with ASD to understand what the barriers were to a timely diagnosis. The results are not surprising, but they are also alarming. Some of these families may benefit from telehealth in the future. Telehealth is not perfect, but it turning out to be helpful. For example, it may be beneficial in treating insomnia in people with ASD. Delivering cognitive behavioral therapy online resulted in improvements in sleep in adolescents with ASD. It isn’t a panacea, but it seems to be more helpful than people gave it credit for before the pandemic.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32839243/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32838539/